The recent killing of one student by another and the wounding of two other students in separate incidents at prominent high schools has brought the issue of indiscipline back into sharp focus. Schools are a microcosm of the wider society, and unfortunately, our society happens to be a violent, aggressive, and indisciplined one.

As educators we are faced daily with children who are ‘dragged’ up and have no structure in their homes. There are no boundaries established for them and proper parental guidance and supervision is lacking. Therefore, these children come to school with an anti-authority attitude and mindset.

The problem is further compounded by a shortage of resources and personnel in most of our schools. Class sizes are very large and the average free space available to each student is less than desirable.

This ugly truth breeds aggression among the students and puts pressure on teachers to resolve conflicts rather than facilitate learning. Equally important is that the ratio of student to guidance counsellor is much too high to effectively deal with the trauma of violence among the student population.

We can assign security officers, deans of discipline, erect perimeter fences, and deploy metal detectors while conducting searches in an effort to prevent offensive weapons from coming onto the school’s compound, all of which are needed and will help with maintaining a certain level of discipline; however, we have to be able to consistently reach our students on an individual and practical basis for any of these measures to be impactful in the long term.

It is my view that punitive measures in and of themselves are not able to address the problem of disruptive and violent students. We need to get back to the days when most adults would seek to nurture and guide a child along the right path in the community. I don’t think it is beyond us to rekindle this community spirit and duty of care.

As a community leader myself, I am aware that the spirit of volunteerism and neighbourliness is dying in Jamaica. However, I think a national mentorship programme holds the key to rescuing our students and saving our society. The Government must embark on an incentivised national mentorship programme aimed at getting successful Jamaicans of good repute and influence to help motivate and mentor our students, especially our boys.

There needs to be greater linkages between the home, school, and community.

It is my hope that this recent, unfortunate wave of indiscipline and violence in our schools will open the eyes of our policymakers and provoke a radical shift in the methods used to socialise and groom our students for the adult economy.

Let us pray that our policymakers will cease talking about the ills of our economically and socially disadvantaged youth and concentrate on amelioration by investing more in character-building education.

Let me hasten to say that the views I express here are my personal opinion and not that of Alston High School or any other associated body.

Andre’ Wellington is dean of discipline at Alston High School.