Martin Henry

What a lesson to learn at the very start of school. Before they have mastered the alphabet, children at the Curlin Johnson Basic School in the violent Mountain View Ave area have been taught by their teachers to get flat at the first sound of gunfire.

"They immediately hit the floor, face first and cover their heads," the principal explained to Gleaner reporter Robert Lalah. When the gunfire eases these little tots are moved into a back rest room where they huddle with teachers until the police and soldiers arrive.

What else will these little ones learn? They have arrived at school shooting with the fingers. In a little while they will be able to identify weapons from the sound of the explosion. And they will quickly learn who their enemies are in the war and how to deal with their case. They will learn quite early that 'informa fi dead.' The odds are heavily stacked against them, in this setting of violence and fear, that they will learn well the traditional lessons of school and do well in the GSAT and the CXC.

Struggling to operate

The school has been struggling to operate at Saunders Avenue off Mountain View Avenue for 21 years. It is more than likely that some of the shottas who a buss shot, forcing current students to get flat, are graduates of the school - and relatives of the frightened children inside.

The school and its pupils are victims of long-running hostilities between adjoining communities. Many of the children who attend the school are from a rival community. The numbers attending fall dramatically when there is a flare-up of violence as parents keep their children out of enemy territory. Multiply this scenario across inner-city communities. Principal Lorrette Fitz-Simmons wants to move the school to a neutral place [that may be hard to find in the area] where the children "Don't have to fear for their lives when they come to school. They should only be concerned with being happy."

Only concerned with being happy and learning the three Rs in peace and safety is a very tall order. Earlier this year, the GraceKennedy Foundation lecture by Dr. Maureen Samms-Vaughan was on 'Children Caught in the Crossfire'. In areas like the one in which the Curlin Johnson Basic School is located, "At night when children lie in their beds [the survey was done with 11- and 12-year-olds]," Samms-Vaughan tells us, "three to four out of every 10 cry as they remember the family member or close family friend who is no longer around because he or she was the victim of murder."

In their communities and at school nine out of 10 see fighting, seven out of 10 see people stoning each other, five out of 10 have seen the body of murder victims, four out of 10 have witnessed stabbing, and three out of ten shooting.

Ten main factors have been identified which predispose children to a life of delinquency and aggression. Four of the 10, Dr. Samms-Vaughan says, are related to children's experience of violence.

Stressed-out mothers

Violence begins to affect children before they are born. Mothers who are stressed by violence produce excessive amounts of cortisol, a hormone that impairs brain development. "Cortisol wires the developing brain for aggression and violent behaviour as well as impulsivity and mental health disorders of anxiety and depression."

The tiny tots at the Curlin Johnson Basic School have learned how to get flat at the sound of the first shot. Children who live in circumstances of violence and high degrees of fear learn to remain hyper-alert to danger. "This hyper-alertness prevents them from focusing and paying attention in school and results in poor school performance." Post-traumatic stress disorder is now being seen more and more in child mental health clinics, the paediatrician says.

As the children are forced to get flat, and various visions for the future are proclaimed from political platforms, who will rise to the task of providing a safe and secure environment for the children of the Curlin Johnson Basic School and the children of Jamaica. What greater vision and responsibility could there be?

Martin Henry is a communication specialist.