Nagra Plunkett, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:

Despite the numerous measures instituted by the St. James police to combat crime and violence, there is a sense of hopelessness among children in the parish's inner-city communities, who see the problem as a threat to their aspirations.

This is the perception of a group of teenagers - between ages 13 and 17 - who participated in a Gleaner Editors' Forum in Montego Bay on Wednesday.

The students, who reside in some of the city's most violent communities, cited gun violence, rape, and peer pressure as part of their daily diet.

"If you're on the evening shift, as school finish you have to go home. Because if you stay too late, especially (depending on) which side you live, drivers not going to carry you," said 17-year-old Molly of Flankers.

Her community has seen an upsurge in violence linked to an ongoing gang feud since last November.

"I don't really live in the bad areas, but I hear all of the gunshots. You don't get enough time to study. If your light is on, people might think you are watching them or something."

Witnessed murders

Sixteen-year-old Tamara has a similar story. She has witnessed two murders in her Hendon/ Norwood neighbourhood.

"I have to go in before five or six o'clock because them killing and robbing people. It makes me afraid and feel like I don't want to live there anymore," she commented.

Mark's life is filled with fear. The 14-year-old is coping with the constant bloodletting in Norwood, the trauma of witnessing the stabbing death of his friend last month and recently losing an uncle to gunmen's bullets.

"For days (after my friend died) I couldn't sleep ... I try to stay in my house at all times because I don't like what is going on around me," he shared. "The other day they killed a taxi driver near my house."

He added: "So far, it is not affecting my schoolwork."

Teachers at the Editors' Forum say their challenge with violence and truancy in their schools is linked to those students who reside in the inner-city communities.

"St. James High School has children from the troubled areas. You name it, we have had them. But what we are doing as a staff and as an administration is to ensure that we show two things: tolerance and love," commented Vice-Principal Jeanette Solomon, whose school is shedding its violent image.

"We, as a staff, have made inroads by being on time for class and ensuring that the children are gainfully occupied. We identify the truants and, most of all, work out programmes for them."

The senior teacher, who has been at the institution for 32 years, stressed the importance for teachers to understand children.

"The children who come from the troubled areas behave exactly like they are in their communities, and we have to reverse that," Ms. Solomon noted.

"If the society will just help us in doing our jobs. We need role models; it's not money alone that we need."

nagra.plunkett@gleanerjm.com