Make cadet training mandatory
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
The cadet force is a disciplined organisation that takes on both military and community activities. Participation in cadet activities changes the lives of many individuals and it is a deterrent to indiscipline in our schools.
It has been established that some high schools across the country are experiencing problems with students' behaviour. In an effort to instil discipline and positive attitude in our youths, thus enabling them to become focus and responsible citizens, the Government should mandate that every public high school should have a cadet unit. I believe that there should be a partnership between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) where principals of the participating schools provide a designated teacher (male or female) to supervise or be placed in charge of the unit.
Drawback
The JCCF could provide the appropriate training and equipment, whereby the schools provide the space or storage facility for equipment, that is, uniforms, training manuals, etc. In the event there is a lack of space at the schools, then the MOE could provide a container for the purpose. A drawback to the effort is that many teachers might not see the cadet force as an option because service in such an organisation is voluntary. However, there are privileges that are associated with being a member of the JCCF.
With reference to St Thomas, most high schools are in need of active cadet units at those institutions. I strongly believe that if the Government embark on such an effort, then we will see some productive students growing up to become responsible adults.
I am, etc.,
CHARLIE BROWN
charliebrown1004@hotmail.com
St Thomas
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/letters/letters6.html
Showing posts with label Police Youth Clubs Solution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Police Youth Clubs Solution. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
EDITORIAL - The Dickensian shame of Armadale
EDITORIAL - The Dickensian shame of Armadale
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
In a sense, the Armadale enquiry wasn't really necessary. It wasn't going to tell us anything that we didn't know. Most Jamaicans know about the horrible conditions at the so-called correctional centres and places of safety.
Sadie Keating's committee earlier this decade, for instance, documented rampant sexual and physical abuse at both government and privately run homes where children ought to believe they have bankable guarantees of refuge and well-being.
We are aware, too, of the beatings and torture in 2000 at the prison in St Catherine, and the findings of the sole commissioner who probed that atrocity. Before these, there was the report on the riots at the Tower Street Correctional Centre that highlighted the overcrowding at the prison, the ill-treatment of prisoners, and the general corruption of the system.
But even though there would be no grand revelations from Justice Harrison's probe of the events in May at Armadale, St Ann, where seven of the inmates of this facility for girls were burnt to death, we knew that it was important that we hear what happened and the circumstances in which it happened. For it is important, we feel, continuously to confront ourselves and to test our tolerance for indecency until, perhaps, we are at a point where we can no longer endure and, therefore, shame ourselves into action - to a behaviour for the better.
A degrading Dickensian hellhole
In the first regard, the enquiry did not disappoint, confirming Armadale as a degrading Dickensian hellhole for which no one, from top to bottom and in-between, assumes any responsibility and has no expectation of being held to account. Unless, perhaps, Justice Harrison deems someone criminally liable for starting the fire that caused the deaths and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions prefers charges against that individual.
But igniting the fire that caused the deaths and injuries was not the worse thing that happened at Armadale. The fire, the raw truth be acknowledged, was mere symptomatic of something far nastier and more corrosive than what is likely to have been a case of bad judgement: it is a toxic cocktail of abrogation of responsibility and indecent disrespect. So people who find themselves in a particular circumstance or are hemmed into a certain stratum are worthy, it appears, of not more than a Dickensian workhouse.
Psychotic behaviour
Should such an assertion be deemed unfair, how else then is the evidence of Dr Micas Campbell, who attended to the Armadale girls, explained?
Several of the 61 wards, she said, displayed various forms of psychotic behaviour, including hallucination and suicidal and homicidal tendencies. Some were particularly aggressive. Some suffered from depression and anxiety. But the State, in whose care they were placed, which had responsibility for their welfare, could not find it possible to ensure that teenage girls with deep psychological problems receive prescribed medication on a regular basis. Nor could Dr Campbell get two girls, with deeper problems, complicated by diagnosis of HIV, removed from Armadale. They died in the fire.
That attitude is symptomatic of a culture in which what happened at Armadale in May was entirely possible. What is worse, no one at any level of the system seems to feel responsible, which makes them irresponsible, and should go, starting at the top of the correctional system.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/cleisure/cleisure1.html
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
In a sense, the Armadale enquiry wasn't really necessary. It wasn't going to tell us anything that we didn't know. Most Jamaicans know about the horrible conditions at the so-called correctional centres and places of safety.
Sadie Keating's committee earlier this decade, for instance, documented rampant sexual and physical abuse at both government and privately run homes where children ought to believe they have bankable guarantees of refuge and well-being.
We are aware, too, of the beatings and torture in 2000 at the prison in St Catherine, and the findings of the sole commissioner who probed that atrocity. Before these, there was the report on the riots at the Tower Street Correctional Centre that highlighted the overcrowding at the prison, the ill-treatment of prisoners, and the general corruption of the system.
But even though there would be no grand revelations from Justice Harrison's probe of the events in May at Armadale, St Ann, where seven of the inmates of this facility for girls were burnt to death, we knew that it was important that we hear what happened and the circumstances in which it happened. For it is important, we feel, continuously to confront ourselves and to test our tolerance for indecency until, perhaps, we are at a point where we can no longer endure and, therefore, shame ourselves into action - to a behaviour for the better.
A degrading Dickensian hellhole
In the first regard, the enquiry did not disappoint, confirming Armadale as a degrading Dickensian hellhole for which no one, from top to bottom and in-between, assumes any responsibility and has no expectation of being held to account. Unless, perhaps, Justice Harrison deems someone criminally liable for starting the fire that caused the deaths and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions prefers charges against that individual.
But igniting the fire that caused the deaths and injuries was not the worse thing that happened at Armadale. The fire, the raw truth be acknowledged, was mere symptomatic of something far nastier and more corrosive than what is likely to have been a case of bad judgement: it is a toxic cocktail of abrogation of responsibility and indecent disrespect. So people who find themselves in a particular circumstance or are hemmed into a certain stratum are worthy, it appears, of not more than a Dickensian workhouse.
Psychotic behaviour
Should such an assertion be deemed unfair, how else then is the evidence of Dr Micas Campbell, who attended to the Armadale girls, explained?
Several of the 61 wards, she said, displayed various forms of psychotic behaviour, including hallucination and suicidal and homicidal tendencies. Some were particularly aggressive. Some suffered from depression and anxiety. But the State, in whose care they were placed, which had responsibility for their welfare, could not find it possible to ensure that teenage girls with deep psychological problems receive prescribed medication on a regular basis. Nor could Dr Campbell get two girls, with deeper problems, complicated by diagnosis of HIV, removed from Armadale. They died in the fire.
That attitude is symptomatic of a culture in which what happened at Armadale in May was entirely possible. What is worse, no one at any level of the system seems to feel responsible, which makes them irresponsible, and should go, starting at the top of the correctional system.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/cleisure/cleisure1.html
Monday, March 30, 2009
Youths pledge to 'take back' Jamaica by Petrina Francis
Published: Sunday March 29, 2009
Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer Michelle Simpson, vice-president of the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs, performs a dance during the council's annual prayer breakfast held yesterday at the St Andrew Technical High school auditorium in St Andrew.
"WE CAN take back Jamaica and I think the Police Youth Clubs (PYC) are the perfect place to start," says president Rory Griffiths.
Griffiths is confident that the youths of the Kingston Western Police Division can and will be vanguards of change in Jamaica through their respective clubs.
The Sunday Gleaner yesterday met several young men and women at the forefront at the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs Council's annual prayer breakfast, held at St Andrew Technical High School.
The council is made up of members of the various clubs in the division.
Maintain good relations
Griffiths says PYCs are relevant in communities because they provide an opportunity for residents to maintain a good relationship with the police. The clubs, he says, also build unity in communities.
"Some people are afraid to go into other areas of the communities because of existing tensions, so we are trying to eliminate that fear," says Griffiths, who also represents the Eagle Hikers PYC in Denham Town.
Griffiths' club, for example, hosts fund-raising activities and invites members from other communities in the area.
"This only works sometimes, because we are not getting 100 per cent support from the community," he laments.
It is unfortunate, he says, that some people are of the view that people from the inner city cannot excel.
"But we are going to show them that positive changes can happen in our communities. We are making the change," he declares.
One club, Presi-dential Click, in Tivoli Gardens, has already debunked the myth that youth clubs are just a place for the young to meet and play games and sports. This club has adopted the SOS Children's Village in St Andrew and the Milk Lane Golden Age Home in west Kingston.
"Our children and elderly need our love and support, so we have to go out there and assist them," says Cassandra Hurd, treasurer of Presidential Click Police Youth Club.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090329/lead/lead3.html
Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer Michelle Simpson, vice-president of the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs, performs a dance during the council's annual prayer breakfast held yesterday at the St Andrew Technical High school auditorium in St Andrew.
"WE CAN take back Jamaica and I think the Police Youth Clubs (PYC) are the perfect place to start," says president Rory Griffiths.
Griffiths is confident that the youths of the Kingston Western Police Division can and will be vanguards of change in Jamaica through their respective clubs.
The Sunday Gleaner yesterday met several young men and women at the forefront at the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs Council's annual prayer breakfast, held at St Andrew Technical High School.
The council is made up of members of the various clubs in the division.
Maintain good relations
Griffiths says PYCs are relevant in communities because they provide an opportunity for residents to maintain a good relationship with the police. The clubs, he says, also build unity in communities.
"Some people are afraid to go into other areas of the communities because of existing tensions, so we are trying to eliminate that fear," says Griffiths, who also represents the Eagle Hikers PYC in Denham Town.
Griffiths' club, for example, hosts fund-raising activities and invites members from other communities in the area.
"This only works sometimes, because we are not getting 100 per cent support from the community," he laments.
It is unfortunate, he says, that some people are of the view that people from the inner city cannot excel.
"But we are going to show them that positive changes can happen in our communities. We are making the change," he declares.
One club, Presi-dential Click, in Tivoli Gardens, has already debunked the myth that youth clubs are just a place for the young to meet and play games and sports. This club has adopted the SOS Children's Village in St Andrew and the Milk Lane Golden Age Home in west Kingston.
"Our children and elderly need our love and support, so we have to go out there and assist them," says Cassandra Hurd, treasurer of Presidential Click Police Youth Club.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090329/lead/lead3.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
