A number of schools in Kingston are to benefit from a youth leadership programme to be implemented by the British-funded Beacons of Progress and Achievement (BPA).

“We have worked on it and we are already prepared to have it in Kingston College and August Town Primary this September 2006,” said BPA president, Natalie Peterson.

She added that the organisation was aiming to implement the programme in as many as eight schools by the start of the new school year.

She made the announcement at Wednesday’s ceremony at the University of Technology in Kingston, to launch the BPA and to present certificates to children from the Windsor Heights community in St Catherine, who participated in a recently concluded pilot project.

Programme coordinator Linace Gordon said that the $250,000 three-week summer pilot project involved 25 children, ages three to six years. It was conducted out of the realisation that youngsters in the age group were not constructively engaged during the months of summer.

The aim, she said, was to “enhance the productive use of our toddlers and engender a spirit of industriousness and socially acceptable behaviour”.

“Being an inner-city person, one cannot help but notice how our youngest peers are left to idle day in and out and especially during summer. We realise that wasteful use of time from so early are factors which contribute to some of us becoming ineffective adults,” she added.

The children participated in a number of activities, including dancing, art and craft, lessons in Spanish and socially acceptable behaviours, and a field trip.

In her remarks at the function, Member of Parliament for North Central St Catherine, Sharon Hay-Webster had nothing but praise for the programme.

“We are already seeing the positive impacts of the programme in the community, as it is involving community members of an early age and has been enforcing positive values and attitudes among them,” she said, adding that the effort should continue.

The BPA organisation has been in existence for the past four years. Their operations have been funded through the British High Commission and with the input of local sponsors. It was only recently, however, that the organisation began to roll out its initiatives, which are aimed at creating a vibrant group of young leaders, especially in inner-city communities, who can contribute solutions to minimising crime and violence in the society.

“It is our belief that every young person, regardless of age, has a vital role to play in developing our society through crime reduction,” a release from the organisation said.

The BPA comes under the umbrella of the London-based Metropolitan Black Police Association, and is part of a larger group of young people, which include the Young Black Positive Advocates in Britain, the South African Pop Crew and the Time Dollar Youth Court in Washington DC.

Acting British High Commissioner Paul Nicolopulo, who was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s ceremony, said the British Government saw the venture as mutually beneficial in light of the link between crime in Jamaica and Britain.

“We are trying to help inner-city communities adjust from semi-governance by gangsters to governance in accordance with Jamaica’s constitution,” he said.

The high commissioner noted that the venture was worthwhile, in that it would help, over the long term, “to create better communities which produce better citizens with skills, attitudes and training to take advantage of opportunities”.

Meanwhile, Jamaican and English youths, via a live video conference link, spoke about the adverse effects of declining family structure and unedifying musical lyrics on young people globally.

Following comments from youngsters who attended the event, Hay-Webster spoke of the negative impact of hard-core dancehall lyrics that glorify violence and irresponsible sexual behaviour on teenagers, some of whom have become infected with HIV/AIDS.

She, however, pointed out that the government was being proactive in tackling some of these issues. On the matter of sexual education and disease prevention, she said, “the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology Programme in St Catherine has an HIV support programme, which has a very strong antiretroviral programme, counselling and outreach”.

Hay-Webster added that an important part of the government’s initiatives was prevention, “getting out the message of abstinence and responsible sexual behaviour”.