A GROUP of young people from the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN) has proposed that the Ministry of Education and Youth place trained social workers in all high schools throughout the country by September 2009, in the hope of tackling the many social problems faced by students.

“We [have] realised that the issues that highschool students are presented with are far greater than what guidance counsellors are trained to handle,” said Tyrone Smythe, a member of JYAN.

“The issues of truancy, violence in schools, drop-outs, slow learners and working children are issues that would be better handled by a trained social worker,” he said.

The group believes that, with the many incidents of crime and violence in schools, employing social workers would address the problems “in a more holistic way”.

“(A social worker would be better able to] investigate the child’s environment, inclusive of the home and identify factors that are causing the delinquent behaviours,” Smythe observed.

The group also proposed that social workers would be better suited to foster a closer relationship between parents and the school and would take some of the pressure off the schools’ guidance counsellors who are often forced to go beyond their required role.

The group held its launch yesterday at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge on the campus of the University of the West Indies, Mona.

JYAN consists of young people between the ages of nine and 24 years who have joined together to advocate on behalf of the nation’s youth on particular issues such as sex education, crime and violence, disabled youth and high rates of unemployment among young people.

JYAN is also a part of Jamaica’s Solution to Youth Lifestyle and Empowerment (JA-STYLE), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded adolescent healthy lifestyle project.