By Petrina Francis, Education ReporterA PROGRAMME to rid the local education system of violence and other antisocial behaviours has been reaping success in at least one rural school.
The Project Coalition for the Support of Adolescent Leadership Training (CSALT) is being piloted at the Ocho Rios High School. The project, run by the Family Counselling Centre of Jamaica in St. Ann, is now in its second year at the school.
Sidney McGill, a marriage and family therapist who designed and implemented CSALT, told The Gleaner that "the initial target group is adolescent males in Grade Seven who are experiencing emotional and relational difficulties in their families and at school, and have the potential to become involved in crime and violence." Within the first month of starting high school, the Zung Self Rating Depression Scale is administered to Grade Seven boys.
Once the results are received, letters are sent to the parents of the children whose results are moderate or severe. Dr. McGill said that 10 per cent of the boys usually fall into this category and they would receive further psychological counselling and assessment. Ocho Rios High was chosen because of the high incidence of violence affecting the school.
LEVEL OF VIOLENCE
Dr. McGill explained that the CSALT programme is designed to reduce the level of violence and conflict in schools, especially among high-risk Grade Seven boys. In addition to addressing issues challenging boys, there is also a monthly parenting session where they have an interactive session to discuss problems they are having with their children.
Dr. McGill stated, "CSALT will endeavour to break the cycle of violence in Jamaica, whether it be within the family or in the schoolyard, the sports field or the marketplace, young men exercising the virtues of courage, discipline, vision and endurance will become a mighty force for good in a society that so often seems to produce their opposites."
But, how does the programme work? During each school term, training workshops assist these troubled adolescents to resole personal problem and develop important life skills. The boys participate in three workshops for the year with each workshop lasting three days. A one-week summer camp is also held to further "inspire the young men into becoming contributing members of society, their local communities and their church."
Dr. McGill said "I am very concerned that our boys are emotionally illiterate, they can't express themselves with words so they use the short hand such as bad words."
INCREASE VOCABULARY
In the programme, they are taught to increase their vocabulary to describe different emotions. So rather than saying they are angry, they are taught to say they are frustrated or annoyed.
At the workshop they are introduced to 'uncles' who are mentors. The uncles try to facilitate and encourage the boys. Six to eight students are assigned to an uncle and in the mid-term period, the uncles spend one-and-a-half hours per week with the boys.
To date, about 115 boys have gone through the programme which is expected to go islandwide. Dr. McGill said that the plan is to get into all the high schools where there are boys because "we want our boys to influence other boys to become better."
When asked about the success of the programme, Dr. McGill said excitedly, "Honestly, I did not expect the programme to be so successful." He said teachers and guidance counsellors say that it is the first time they have ever seen such a decrease in school violence.
Meanwhile, Daunett Llewellyn, guidance counsellor of Ocho Rios High, told The Gleaner that the CSALT programme is an excellent venture, especially as it relates to leadership.
"The programme is structured to gear them (Grade Seven boys) towards leadership and I have seen changes in the so-called trouble makers," Llewellyn said, adding that the programme has really helped some of the boys to calm down and they no longer visit her office as regularly.
