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Committed to building a better Jamaica by offering non-violent alternatives to conflict resolution from the grassroots level and upwards ~Be the change~ www.harmonydrs.com; info@harmonydrs.com; Tel:(876)-327-6009;(954)-266-8390; Fax: 954-603-8982 Like us on Facebook- Harmony DRS Jamaica Follow us on Twitter @HARMONYJamaica
"Peacekeeping is significant because it brings the world closer together, creating an environment of richness in ideas and best practices. It affords those who have an impartial understanding, to negotiate a peaceful settlement for those who are in the problem and cannot find a solution," she says.
OVER 100,000 children across Jamaica seen by a medical practitioner have been diagnosed with varying degrees of mental-health problems, according to lead child psychiatrist in The Ministry of Health, Dr Ganesh Shetty. More than half of the children assessed are severely ill, he revealed. Some of the mentalproblems affecting them are bipolar disorder, phobic disorder, suicidal tendencies, mental retardation, impaired social interaction and anxiety disorder...He said that, If we don't help these youth now we may live to regret it later, as they may grow up to prey on society, turning to a life of crime, drug addiction, teen pregnancy or prostitution."
My say: Jamaica needs a different approach to peace. It is time for more emphasis to be placed on being proactive rather than reactive. The culture of violence is overwhelming but it is also reversible. It will take time, commitment, perseverance, money and a change in attitude. I know we can be a better country.
Jamaica Observer: JAMAICA has slipped eight places to 106th out of 153 countries on the 2011 Global Peace Index, which shows that levels of world peace have declined for a third consecutive year.
See the results and interactive map
The Ministry of Education Ministry has been forced to intervene in an incident in which a teacher was beaten by six students at the Cambridge High School, in St James on Thursday.
As a result of the incident, which reportedly left the teacher with lacerations, colleagues at the institution staged a sit-in on Friday.
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"A number of studies show that three-quarters (75 per cent) of boys want to be like their fathers and more than half of girls want to be like their fathers. So once a father has a job and is stable and spends a lot of time with his son, that boy is most likely to be stable," Gayle, an anthropologist of social violence, told the Sunday Observer.
"It is not the same thing for his mother. So the mother can have a stable job and thing, but the boy is still problematic because the mother is not a role model for her son. Very few boys choose, (for example), the careers of their mothers," he added.
"Professor (Barry) Chevannes' 2001 study "Learning to be a Man" discusses the influence of the street versus the home. He found that the influence of the mother cannot beat the influence of the street. For inner-city males, there is a war between the home and the street. A boy from the inner city who beats the influence of the street usually has a male influence somewhere. A male teacher, pastor and uncle are the three we usually find in studies. So when a mother comes out and says 'is me and God alone', it's a lie..." the researcher said further.
"At that age — between 15 and 24 — why should you be depending on yourself (for emotional and financial support)? It is a statement that parenting is under threat, that trust in adults is under threat. Basically, what we are talking about is premature 'adultification'... What the society is doing is pre-harvesting them (school-age youths). They are hitting the labour force and going on their own too early," he told the Sunday Observer.
"Ten per cent of youths being in a situation where they say they have no one to turn to is a bit too high, especially when we are talking about the age group 15 to 24, which is the most problematic period in a person's life — and they are mostly males," he added.
"Suicide is just one of the implications... Loneliness leads to anger and frustration. You can't be at that age and have nobody to turn to... If somebody lives in a society he feels has failed him, then it has tons of implications for violence, both against others and self (as well as) for the political apathy we have," the anthropologist of social violence said.
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Clearly too, many Jamaican males have come to maturity without having developed a respectful and rational attitude towards women. It's unfortunate but true that popular manifestations of the contemporary Jamaican folk culture including music appear to designate women as sex objects only.
Superficially at least, the situation presents itself as an extreme irony since most of our people were brought up by single mothers.
