Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU
CHAIRMAN OF the Early Childhood Commission, Dr. Maureen Samms-Vaughan, has called on teachers to protect young boys, describing them as 'more vulnerable' and more likely to become a danger to society.
"Consider the boys in your class vulnerable. They are the same children who will go on to create problems in the society if we don't nurture and care for them," Dr. Samms-Vaughan told the 220 teacher graduates during the Sam Sharpe Teachers' College Valedictory Service at the Faith Temple Church in Montego Bay on Sunday.
MURDER
"Thirty-six per cent of 11 to 12- year-olds in Kingston and St. Andrew report that they have lost a family member or close family friend to murder. That is one-third of the children in every class who have been victims of loss due to violence and who are grieving."
The research data also indicated that one child in 40 had reported losing his/her father to murder; one in 12 reports being stabbed, with majority of the incidents occurring on school premises.
According to the educator, the graduates will be hard pressed
to act in several roles from the provider of information to counsellor as a result of the many socio-emotional problems affecting young people today.
"You will have to become the vanguards of violence and the peacemakers in your classroom because this is the society that we live in today," she advised.
