MONA School of Business and Management Executive-in-Residence Leighton McKnight is calling on Jamaicans to return to “village parenting” as a means of rescuing young people amid the country’s continued fight against crime and violence.

Drawing on his own experience as a youngster, the philanthropist shared that “strong parenting” and the grace of God saved him.

“What is needed now is more of us to take up the mantle of redirecting our youth — individually and collectively — as church members, and as upstanding citizens who care about the current situation and the future of the country. Let us step up our mentoring efforts — go into schools, the communities, and all forums available,” he said while addressing patrons at the 2024 Stella Maris Fund-raising Banquet on September 20.

“As I continuously ponder on how we have gotten into this precipitous state as a nation and reflect on my own life as a youngster, I concluded that I was saved by strong parenting and the grace of God,” he said. “The parenting I speak about is village parenting, as I was raised by the village.

“The village consisted of immediate and extended family, school, Church, and communities [and]…I think we need to urgently get back to a similar system,” McKnight added.

Known for assisting young people find pathways to success, he recounted helping a family after a video went viral in 2017 of a mother in Bath, St Thomas, beating her child with a machete. He said despite the narrative on social media in response to the video, he stepped in and helped the child as she continued her high school journey.

The result: She jumped to first place in her class about a year after his intervention.

“Don’t be quick to judge on what you see on social media; seek out facts and solutions,” he said.

McKnight also highlighted that a major contributor to Jamaica’s crime and violence is the lack of academic advancement among boys.

“It is a known fact that many youngsters are growing up in Jamaica without fathers or good male influence. This has led many — a lot of them fairly bright ones, too — to inculcate the wrong values and turning to crime instead of academic advancement,” he said.

The executive-in-residence explained that, based on his analysis of the country’s educational system, there is a clear disparity between the number of boys and the number of girls advancing from the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) levels to the tertiary education level.

McKnight noted his concern that of the 18 per cent of students who passed five or more CSEC subjects, including mathematics and English language, 23 per cent were girls while only 13 per cent were boys. Additionally, he expressed deeper concern when examining graduation rates at the tertiary level.

He said that in 2023, 72.5 per cent of The University of the West Indies’ graduates were females, and in 2024, 79.6 per cent female graduates were recorded at University of the Commonwealth Caribbean.

McKnight also turned the spotlight on enrolment rates at various levels of the education system, noting that although more boys (17,040) than girls (16,508) sat the last CSEC exams, it was the opposite at the CAPE level, where 62 per cent of the cohort were girls.

“This, to me, indicates that boys are not any less capable academically than girls, but for specific reasons we are losing a lot of them before they get to sixth form,” he said as he pointed to the high dropout rate among boys in high school since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Given the data presented and anecdotal representation from key stakeholders, we clearly need to move rapidly — in whatever way we can — to improve our overall scholastic results and, in particular, get our boys back on track; we need to get closer to them and provide more positive guidance, despite whatever obstacles… Too many of our youth, especially young men, are going astray without compassionate care in upbringing — especially education-wise,” McKnight added.

He emphasised that the mission to save the country’s youth is a national one, noting that it requires the input of all Jamaicans.

“This mission I speak of is not a Government mission, it is not a Ministry of Education mission, it is not a police mission, it is not a school principal or teacher mission, it is not a CPFSA [Child Protection and Family Services Agency] mission — it is squarely a national mission which requires the input and action of us all,” said McKnight.