A call for greater parental involvement and accountability took centre stage at the launch of National Parent Month 2026, as education and child welfare officials urged parents to use the available resources to raise emotionally secure and socially responsible children.

As Jamaica continues to record a worrying level of violence among peers in schools, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education Dr Kasan Troupe urged parents to play a more active role in shaping their children’s behaviour, while also bettering themselves at parenting with the provided support.

“We have active parenting programmes in collaboration with the NPSC (National Parenting Support Commission). We have parenting mentors out there who are building parenting skills; [this is] what we call positive parenting throughout our communities. They are in the communities and they are reachable.

“In addition to that, we have our guidance counsellors implementing parenting training and not only about how to discipline your child but how to support the educational journey of your child,” Troupe told the launch, held at the Holy Trinity High School in St Andrew on Thursday.

The permanent secretary added that she was particularly concerned about the reaction of parents to school bullying incidents on social media, noting that many seemed keen to respond to situations with violence and aggression.

Troupe noted that conflict resolution skills are usually developed from the home and argued that parents should set better examples for their children.

“When I see some of the unfortunate incidents on social media and when I go into the comments, I see our parents perpetuating the idea of violence. ‘What I would do, what I would not do and if that were my child’. I am very concerned about that posture and that is why the NPSC has been tasked to focus on helping parents to get into the conversation of how we can bully-proof our schools,” she said.

“How we parent our children will impact what they become in the future. As parents, like teachers, we send messages in the future. So, how we speak to our children, how we communicate values to our children, it’s not just saying it but how we demonstrate it. It is very important,” continued Troupe.

She also expressed unease about the manner in which some parents represent their children at schools, urging guardians to collaborate with school officials for their children’s benefit rather than resorting to aggression.

“How we turn up at school as parents is very important. But far too often we see parents turning up in aggression and anger and threatening our leaders and teachers. When did we get there? Now it is time to take a stand and that’s the theme. Parents, take a stand, raise kindness, stop bullying,” charged Troupe.

Acting chief executive officer at NPSC Anna-Kay Magnus Watson also shared similar sentiments, pointing to data provided by Jamaica’s 2026 Global School Health survey, which identifies that 27 per cent of students have experienced bullying.

Magnus Watson said what was even more alarming was that only 25.9 per cent of the bullied students had confided in their parents about their experiences or believed their guardians would understand their plight.

“So who are they talking to when they are afraid, humiliated, excluded, or threatened? This data is very, very concerning. So this is why our theme, ‘Parents, Take a Stand, Raise Kindness, Stop Bullying’, is not simply a slogan for the month of November. It is a demand for greater parental presence, accountability, and action,” she said.

Magnus Watson added that the NPSC is taking a deliberate approach to bullying prevention, and is committed to breaking the issue into priority areas that parents can understand, and apply as skills to help their children.

But she urged parents to understand that the commission would not be able to reverse school violence on its own.

“So today I’m asking every parent and caregiver to make three commitments. First, know your child, know their friends, their struggles, their online world, and what they’re not saying. Second, be accountable. Do not excuse cruelty, humiliation, or bullying because the child responsible is your own. And third, take action. Do not be a bystander. Speak with the school, speak with other parents, seek support, come to us at NPSC, follow through. Do not wait until your child reaches a breaking point,” said Magnus Watson.