Hoodies, stealthy and on guard — that’s like a starter pack for some parents who accompany their children to Denham Town High School on North Street in western Kingston.

That is because crime continues to cloud inner-city communities, and according to administrators, students who attend schools within said communities are feeling the rain.

“The borders are boundaries that though are invisible, that are causing distress to those living in the communities. In COVID-19 and virtual school, we had the yard-to-yard initiative. We went to the community in search of our students, yard to yard and yard by yard, and when we located some of them and asked why they are not coming down to school, parents said they can’t allow them to come unless they take taxi and hide,” Donovan Hunter, principal of Denham Town High School, told the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday.

“We have parents even now who visit the campus, but they have on a hoodie because they have to be masked coming in. It is serious. They have to mask up. They don’t want certain persons to see them,” Hunter added.

Hunter said that recent discussions with several players suggest that inner-city schools are starting to become replicas of their larger communities.

“We have heard it time and time again, where it’s said that the school is becoming like a microcosm of the society — of the community. We’re trying our very best in terms of the negative aspects, to really get rid of it and to stomp it out. It’s going to take a lot,” he lamented.

Jermaine Lutin, principal of Kingston High School located on King Street, said the effects of crime in surrounding communities “spillover” into school life.

“Oh, yes!” he exclaimed.

“We are on the border of Fletcher’s Land and we see directly, especially with those students who are in and around the area, that there is lots of activities going on,” he said during a Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

However, he said Kingston High has managed to maintain an atmosphere void of negative, outside influences.

“Our students now are 21st-century adults, so we have to find creative ways because we see community violence spilling over. But once you reach on campus, it is different. Even though we are surrounded by sharks and alligators, once you reach on that oasis of Kingston High School, it is different. It’s a calm, nice place. On the outside now, that is where we want the rest of the public to assist us,” he told the Sunday Observer.

As at March 5, 2023, there have been 22 murders in the Kingston Western Police Division — a 29 per cent increase when compared to the same period last year. There have been 13 shootings — two shy of last year’s number.

Last month, the Kingston Western police listed three people from the division as wanted for murder. The men, who are all of Arnett Gardens, St Andrew, addresses, were asked to report to the police immediately. The police also listed 14 individuals as persons of interest.

Director for the safety and security in schools unit at the Ministry of Education and Youth Richard Troupe told the Sunday Observer that the importance of school is now being trumped, understandably, by the fear of caregivers.

“Now, we have within many of our challenging communities parents who will opt not to send the children to school because of the fear that they will not come back home alive,” he related.

Troupe pointed to the 25/34 schools strategy which focuses on 34 schools located in seven declared zones of special operation. The strategy targets the schools for specific interventions.

“We recognise that in some schools, we have some serious behavioural issues and so you can’t transform the institution without paying targeted attention to these students. So they have been risk assessed. Those that would have been identified as medium to high risk, they are benefiting from a menu of psychosocial intervention with our school-based team and also external resource,” he said.

Tivoli Gardens High School assistant football Coach Jevonnie Codlin recalled an incident in which one of his top Under-16 players refused to show up for training, despite having an important game the following day.

“I phoned him and asked about his whereabouts and he said, ‘Coach, I can’t make it because a man just dead in front my gate.’ It’s a very sad the situation. It is really sad and it keeps me worried about my players. It’s arduous to have the type of session you desire when those situations occur,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Codlin said that following a recent flare-up in several west Kingston communities, he has been in dialogue with parents.

“They would express the fear of sending their child to practice as a result of the turf war. It’s very difficult. I would normally be in frequent dialogue with the lads who are from the surrounding areas as well, always trying to motivate them despite the reality.”

Quite frequently, the concerned coach added, he has had to cancel training himself because of gang-related incidents in the division.

“I demand a lot from my players, but the most important thing for me is their safety. They’re humans first and footballers after. Hence, their well-being is very pertinent to me. I want to be safe. We have a WhatsApp group for our team and many times they’re disgruntled… they would message or call me directly, expressing how horrible it is on the street that they live,” he lamented.

“They would say, ‘Coach, my lane just get shoot up.’ It’s depressing. In the mornings, I always ask God’s angels to watch over them as at their age, 14 to 17, in today’s society, they are vulnerable.”

Meanwhile, Troupe said the education ministry’s partnership with the Ministry of Justice is, again, another thing to celebrate.

“…Because a child will say, ‘Sir, my head chipped. That’s why I did what I did’ or ‘Sir, I have anger management problem.’ We have to find a way to help our children to manage conflicts differently. And the partnership with the Ministry of Justice is doing just that.

“We have been training our school-based team; 20 students, five educators, five parents. Cohorts of 30 persons, with is restorative practice training. We started out with an MOU targeting 104 schools and we are now at 200-plus schools and we are going to amend that MOU with the Ministry of Justice to target 500 additional schools.”

In addition, Hunter noted that unlike earlier years, most students aren’t coming from nuclear family households, which he pinpointed to be a part of the degradation of the communities at large.

“What we find now is mostly maternal. I believe 90 per cent of every maybe 20 students you ask ‘where is daddy,’ it’s either he’s in prison, dead or delinquent. The fathers are a missing factor in the life of the students and I believe that contributes to their development in a negative way. It really impacts them in a negative way; both male and female students,” Hunter told the Sunday Observer.

“The homes have become very dysfunctional. That person who sets the tone is the father. I believe that based on what I’m experiencing as a father myself. So that’s one major factor.”

He noted, however, that there are fewer instances of suspected use of “hard drugs”.

“But in terms of the smoking… the marijuana, it has really decreased in terms of the number we find because we search them at the gate. Knives and so on… weapons; those that we find have decreased dramatically. I believe we are getting somewhere in terms of how they carry themselves, their grooming,” he said.