WHAT IS THE politically correct way to deal with young persons committing offences of violence against their peers and the rest of society?

I surprised myself earlier this week with a full-blown rant as I railed against students from two prominent Corporate Area high schools who, it was reported, were en route to Half-Way-Tree for an encounter of a violent kind.

So seriously did the authorities of both schools take the matter that notice was given via the airways that there would be early closure for the day. I was so incensed at the very thought that things had come to such a pass that I publicly expressed the hope that the young thugs and their supporters, who were said to be planning warfare, would be caught and carted off by the police to experience life in the lock-up.

An angry parent took me to task immediately, reminding me of the condemnation of the wider world when it was reported not so long ago that there were Jamaican children who had been placed in lock-ups, a serious breach of international standards of justice. The parent also made it known that she had a son attending one of the warring schools.

The implication was obvious: she — like any other mother — wouldn’t like to see her son locked up in any filthy prison cell. When I attempted to soften my remark, despite the fact I really believe unruly youngsters engaged in acts of violence should feel the weight of the law, a gentleman called in to say that I shouldn’t apologise one bit. It is time for even more tough talk on how to deal with the growing problem of violence in our school population. The gentleman said he was concerned that some of our youths are totally out of control and if strong measures have to be taken to bring them to their senses, then so be it.

What kind of measures is another matter, however. We are quite rightly disturbed at the thought of juveniles in prison cells, particularly the sub-standard facilities which are prevalent in our system. So, the challenge remains of what is the most effective strategy to bring home to some of our boys — and girls, too — the implications of their deviant behaviour.

There is a lot of talk about gangs and how they are to be tamed. Tough measures are being advocated, even as we are asked to recognise that there are gangs and there are gangs. To a group of schoolboys bent on defending their turf, the objective is not drugs and guns. It is kicking the behinds of upstarts from another school who do not recognise their inferior position. It is an old rite of passage which some people may even find amusing.

INTER-SCHOOL RIVALRY is nothing new. What is different this time, however, is the use of weapons — knives, machetes, ice picks, etc. Then, there is the criminal gang with its agenda of big-time crime and violence. Nobody doubts that lock-up is where they belong. Where the ambivalence comes is how we should treat each one.

No one would want to see schoolboys, even those with an excess of testosterone, facing the heavy hand of the law in the same way as hardened criminals. However, a way must be found to let the school bandits know that their behaviour is not acceptable. Ever since the Transport Centre was opened at Half-Way-Tree almost two years ago, adult commuters have complained about the high level of indiscipline among some students who come there supposedly to take the bus home but take the opportunity to create havoc instead. Smart adults know enough to keep out of the way of these young juggernauts. The police frequently cart a bunch of them off to Half-Way-Tree station for cooling off, but that doesn’t seem to deter them.

What was infuriating is that the two schools, Ardenne and Excelsior High — whose good name is being tested and tried, are not some run-down institutions with sub-standard teachers and total lack of guidance and care. “Good people pickney go deh.” To imagine such young people who are privileged to be in institutions dedicated to their development, but choose instead to disrupt the life of their schools, would have been unthinkable at another time.

Officials of the schools point out that it is but a small percentage of their students who behave in this negative fashion, but it is enough to cause concern. This has resulted in both schools working together to find a common solution for the problems common to their institutions.

There have been enough lectures and counselling and motivational talks for it to be assumed that these young idiots (my words) would have got the message by now. Despite the frustration, the school authorities have not given up, although they acknowledge that the external influences in the wider society create a difficult hurdle to overcome.

Cliché though the saying is, children DO live what they learn, the principals remind us. Children who are born and bred in violence seem unable to get the message that there is another way to go, “but we can’t give up”, the principals agreed together.

Two boys — one from each school –were wounded in the dispute, which, it is believed, prompted their supporters to head for Half-Way-Tree to exact revenge. Each boy was wounded by the other in a dispute over a girl!

IT MAY SURPRISE some parents to discover that their precious sons and heirs know more about warfare in the bus terminal than the subjects for which exam fees have already been paid. A senior officer at the Half-Way-Tree station says disbelief often turns into rage for some parents when they are summoned to the station to be told of their child’s bad behaviour and, for the first time, have to face some unpleasant truths.

WE NEED TO remind ourselves that violence is not the sole province of Downtown. Uptown has caught on quite well to the thrill of the fight and they know about the machete and the ice pick, too. They too will fight not to let anyone “diss dem, snitch on them, trouble dem gyal or dem man”. Uptown, Downtown, wherever they come from, there are young persons who are testing an already fragile system and making it easy to forget that the majority of our youths are decent, committed citizens.

gloudonb@yahoo.com