KINGSTON, Jamaica – Several educators from across the island have benefited from training aimed at enabling them to equip students to be peacebuilders in the school and wider society.

The one-day Peace Symposium, hosted by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and the International University of the Caribbean (IUC), was held at the Alhambra Inn in Kingston on Thursday (March 9).

The event featured three workshops focused on peacebuilding strategies in the school space, community and home, including conflict resolution skills.

Principal of Carron Hall High School in St Mary, Carlinton Johnson, said it is important that students are engaged in measures to resolve conflicts at the earliest stage.

“If we can teach the children from an early age how to deal with conflicts and get them to be part of the process [it would help] to bring peace in the schools first, then the community and the world,” he noted.

Physical Education Teacher and coach at Clarendon College, Troy Barnes, pointed out that conflict resolution training for teachers is also important in equipping them to “find new ways to help students”.

He noted that this is particularly in light of the influence of social media, which can have a negative impact on young people.

“A lot of schools have challenges with violence, and as an educator and a person who is always around students, I think I need to know more ways in which I can help to assist these students who are having these challenges,” he told JIS News.

Dean of Discipline at Clarendon College, Kadine Daniel-Campbell, agreed, noting that educators need “guided tools and strategies” to secure peace on school grounds.

“We cannot give up on our students, so, we need to be equipped to be able to implement and pass on these tools to them,” she said.

Director of Safety and Security at the Ministry of Education and Youth, Richard Troupe, noted that a multi-sector approach is needed to address violence in schools.

He noted that students are influenced by persons in society that they see as role models, and these influencers need to be a part of the process of change.

“There are critical stakeholders in society, especially those in the music industry, who believe it is okay to be making any kind of song for the fame and the money without understanding the implications the content [has] on the minds and the behaviour of our nation’s children,” he pointed out.

President of IUC, Professor Roderick Hewitt, for his part, told JIS News that students are required to participate in peacebuilding courses in order to graduate from the institution.

“We are of the view that at the tertiary level, if you are not intentionally a peacebuilder in that area of your profession, then you may end up being one that creates the problem,” he contended.

He noted that the courses have a “positive take-up from students” and recommends that other educational institutions consider implementing similar courses.

The symposium was held under the theme ‘Overcoming Conflicts through Peacebuilding in Schools’.