HAILED AS a great success, the weekend 'Men on a Mission' conference still leaves the question: where do we go from here?
The conference was organised by this newspaper's Mind&Spirit publication in association with Guardian Life Insurance Company, Island Grill, the Missionary Church Association in Jamaica and Family Church on the Rock. It was an attempt to examine the negative perception of men in the society and re-ignite their active participation at all levels.
Perhaps the most obvious indication of male non-performance is in the academic statistics, which show that women are outnumbering and outperforming men. For example, as Senator Delano Franklyn told the conference, in the law programme at the University of the West Indies 80 of the 89 participants are female; and the majority of teachers in the education system are women.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of male non-performance is the absence of a father-figure in the family context. Male delinquence at this level has been cited for decades as the most persistent negative factor responsible for dysfunctional family structures, especially at the low end of the social scale. Hence the characterisation of Jamaica as a matriarchal society in which women dominate as head of the family.
One result is girls being sheltered to the disadvantage of the boys, eventually leading to the type of problems the weekend conference was organised to address.
Countering what he said was popular belief, Senator Franklyn argued that the majority of Jamaican men are gainfully involved in productive work. He cited Economic and Social Survey figures of 57 per cent men and 42 per cent women as being employed.
But his reference to the imbalance in academic performance has given rise to what he also conceded was cause for concern. For surely the productivity and leadership of any viable society must depend on education and training at every level and embrace both men and women.
As an attempt from an intentionally Christian perspective to address a critical social problem, the views expressed at the conference should attract some level of government focus and attention. And it needs to gain currency at the community level with practical programmes in line with a specific recommendation voiced at the conference: rescue the boys and teach them to become responsible men.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
