A few nights ago a group of Jamaicans were gathered at a watering hole a few miles from the border of Broward and Palm Beach Counties in South Florida. There were a variety of topics being discussed among them, but everyone seemed to focus on an issue that was brought up by a very vocal and excitable man, popularly known as Ronald.

He had taken out his mobile phone after receiving a notification that a social media post had been forwarded to him. The post was about the recent stance taken by the Godfrey Stewart High School administration to shut students out of their premises due to a breach of the school dress code. Ronald let out a sad, guttural Jamaican slang which starts with B and ends in T as he shared the audio visual social media post. The students seemed to have been locked out and Ronald was furious.

‘Imagine dat iyah?” Ronald said, “Jus true clothes the teacher dem lock out the youth dem?”

WATCH: Scores of Godfrey Stewart students locked out of school

While most among the gathering agreed that present day ‘high schoolers’ have flown way past their nests and are in need of rehabilitation, the move by the high school administration to shun the students was deemed as far from prudent.

And the present government seems to agree if the words of information minister, Robert Nesta Morgan, are to be taken seriously. In October last year, Morgan declared that a student’s attire should not be a ‘hindrance to education’.

A few years prior, in 2018, a five-year-old female student was banned from school due her dreadlocks hairstyle. That embarrassing scenario ended after a 2019 Supreme Court ruling which stipulated that the child should not be denied an education. And yes the ruling was challenged.

Almost one year on from Morgan’s public declaration, students are still being locked out of school for tight pants and tunics that are inches short. Either Morgan misspoke or the powers that be are carrying on the worn out tradition of paying lip service to the Jamaican people.

School principal, Emily Lawrence-Ricketts in refuting claims that the school shunned students is quoted by the Jamaica Observer as saying, “Since May 26, one of the reasons we are having this uniform conformity drive is that we have a number of predators who molest the young girls in taxis and buses. What we are trying to do is use the uniform as a deterrent. When the uniforms are short [the predators] tend to touch the students. There has been a surge in molestation cases at the institution because of the public transportation.”

Point taken Mrs Lawrence-Ricketts but was locking out the students a wise decision?

It is a fact that Jamaica has managed to facilitate the mass infestation of predators and our children are in danger. It is also a fact that students and those who parent them must establish boundaries and rules to provide a guideline for life, but we cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Rules are rules but some rules are archaic and need an urgent revamp. Jamaica’s education sector must take a deep look within and seek to unlearn and relearn in an effort to save the nation.

There are child molesters in every society. Long skirts or lack thereof will not deter them and locking vulnerable children out of school to face the perils of modern day Jamaica, may result in tragedy and a public relations nightmare for the Godfrey Stewart High School administration.

Too many of our students have gone missing without a trace. Daily releases from the Island’s Constabulary Communications Unit indicate that many went missing during the hours of the commute to and from school. Very rare has a child been abducted while at school in Jamaica.

Those informal statistics would suggest that school in Jamaica is a safe haven for most students, especially in poor rural communities.

If those who chose to be entrusted with the responsibility of molding children turn their backs on the untapped minds of Jamaica’s future leaders simply due to adherence to failed social customs, the future seems dim. It is more important for our children to learn than what they wear while they learn it.

After all, judging from the images being ferried through social media platforms, the tunics were long enough.

Jamaica can throw out the bathwater and keep the baby.

We can and must do it.

Karyl Walker is a veteran journalist who served as the Jamaica Observer’s Crime/Court and Online News Editor. He now resides in Florida, USA.