THE National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) says poor parenting is to be blamed for the escalating crime and violence that prompted Prime Minister Andrew Holness to declare Mount Salem, St James, the country’s first zone of special operations (ZOSO).

Since then, a state of public emergency has been declared in the parish, which has now been extended twice.

“The Social Development Commission’s (SDC’s) findings were saying that poor parenting was the driver of crime down there (Mount Salem), so we had to respond,” NPSC Chief Executive Officer Kaysia Kerr disclosed at the launch of National Parent Month at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston yesterday.

The SDC entered the Mount Salem community during the building phase of ZOSO, which facilitated increased social-intervention activities.

The ZOSO was declared in Mount Salem on September 1, 2017 while the state of emergency (SOE) was declared in St James on January 18, 2018.

According to statistics on serious and violent crimes obtained from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, St James recorded 188 murders in 2017 as well as 140 shootings, 38 robberies, and 25 break-ins.

From January 1, 2018 to August 11, 2018, the parish recorded 60 murders, 61 shootings, 26 robberies, and 32 break-ins.

Yesterday, Kerr said that she was also told by SDC personnel that on their first walk-through of the communities that were part of ZOSO, some of the parents hurled unpleasant words at them.

She said, however, that some of those same parents will be graduating from the ‘Parent Place’ that was established as part of the intervention process in St James.

“In Montego Bay, where we had a very strong presence, we opened a ‘Parent Place’ and parents have been coming in for all kinds of support and parent education. We run those consistently with select opening hours, as prescribed by that space, and we have also been doing workshops,” she explained.

Citing the ‘domino effect’ poor parenting has on society, Kerr said there is a threat to the number-one policy goal of the commission, which is that all Jamaicans must make wise choices about becoming parents and make parenting a priority.

At the same time, the CEO said the NPSC is concerned about the number of parents who are showing low coping skills.

“Too many of our parents who are already parents are opting out… They are too quick to give up there children to the State. We want to build the resilience of our parents. What is interesting is that some of the behaviours that are displayed, are really not bad behaviour, they are age-appropriate things that children are supposed to do,” she said, referencing a video that went viral last year of a mother beating her four-year-old for playing at school.

Arguing that parenting should not be something you “buck up into”, Kerr said parents should plan for parenting, participate in parenting workshops, and put their children first.

“There was a little survey conducted in 204 households by my national coordinator for the PATH (Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education) project, Mr Andre Miller, and, interestingly, it revealed that of the 204 households… and this survey was done in pockets of Portland and Kingston, 70 per cent of those surveyed had never ever been exposed to any parenting education. A mere nine per cent said they had. So you see, we are in some kind of predicament here.

“When we think we’re doing well, we are just scratching the surface. We recognise that we can’t do it alone as a commission,” she added, urging stakeholders to come on board.

The NPSC ushered in National Parent Month 2018 yesterday by calling for parents to “Be the Influence” in the lives of their children.

This year, the NPSC has aligned its theme to three topical issues — planned parenthood, substance abuse and corporal punishment. Each issue has its own tagline that will guide the national discourse during National Parent Month.