Youth Violence and the Education System

Jan 21, 2018 News

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By Olato Sam

The increase in violence among our youth is cause for great concern. The headlines are replete with accounts of the incidents and the statistics speaks to troubling trends in relation to youth involvement in crime.
This is a broader societal problem but given the fact that our schools are a microcosm of the society; we now have another major issue that the education system needs to address head on. This is a challenge that the education system alone is ill-equipped to fully address and one that truly requires a multi-sectoral, broad-based approach at finding solutions.
Schools have been hard-pressed to find workable solutions to the various manifestations of the problem which for some time have emerged as major detractions from the traditional business of schooling.
There have been numerous accounts of the level of deviant behaviour occurring in schools. Teachers have long voiced their concerns in relation to their sense of powerlessness in the face of the increasing number and severity of the incidents which are occurring. More troubling are the accounts of these issues occurring at increasingly younger ages.
Teachers have noted that our children at astonishingly low levels in the system are demonstrating unprecedented levels of anger and aggression. In consultations aimed at finding possible solutions, many teachers have attributed the new rules limiting the use of corporal punishment in schools as a major contributory factor.
Others have cited the absence of the male presence in schools as another significant element. There has been widespread recognition that our schools lack the requisite human and material resources to adequately take on this new challenge. Schools need access to a wide range of social services to begin making inroads in treating with the issues emerging.
The guidance counsellors, school welfare officers and social workers who serve the system are in short supply. As a result, the bulk of the responsibility for dealing with this new challenge falls back on the teachers themselves—a source of great resentment on the part of teachers.
Teachers have maintained that the nucleus of the issue is not within the school system and have openly declared that they should not therefore be saddled with the responsibility of addressing same. In addition, they highlight the fact that they lack the training and specialised skills required to adequately deal with the emerging challenges.
The CARICOM Forum on Youth Crime and Violence noted, with great concern, the increase in violence among pre-adolescents and the trend of increasing violence in schools. One of the more troubling revelations emerging from research done was that our children overwhelmingly cited personal safety issues as one of their main concerns.
This has significant implications for society in general but for schools in particular. Schools have traditionally been and are expected to be safe, nurturing environments. Theoretically, it is even argued that our schools have a responsibility to compensate for the failings of the communities they serve.
Our students’ declaration that they do not feel safe even in schools must be cause for alarm and distress. The perceived threats have led to the need for protection resulting in alarming finds of ‘weapons’ in the possession of students in campaigns conducted by the Ministry’s Schools Welfare Unit.
At the secondary level, overwhelmingly large numbers of male students have been found with real and makeshift weapons which they consider necessary for their safety. This perceived need to protect themselves clearly feeds into the cycle of violence noted among our school-aged population.
It highlights the need for structured interventions to make our schools and communities safer environments for all but especially our children.
Within sister Caribbean states, this issue has mushroomed onto the national stage due to its pervasiveness and severity. There are schools within the region that have been outfitted with metal detectors and heightened forms of security measures to begin to address the scourge.
The state of affairs in the education system in Guyana is far from there and affords us the opportunity, given the emerging signs and trends, to avoid reaching there. As mentioned above however, this cannot be addressed effectively if it is regarded as solely a school or education system problem.
As the CARICOM Forum cited above declared inter alia, this must be treated as a developmental issue requiring the input of a wide range of relevant agencies and sectors. This requires an acceptance of the importance and significance of the problem and the willingness to share relevant information in arriving at potential solutions.
Given their central, strategic position in the lives of our children, schools have a crucial role to play in any approaches devised. This would require broad-based consultation with relevant stakeholders, an openness to innovative ideas and initiative and the willingness and commitment on the part of policymakers to see the entire process through.
There is no quick-fix in relation to this issue and both short and long-term sustainable interventions will be needed, integrating a number of different social, governmental and private sector agencies.
As a World Bank, UNODC report cited on the issue states, “policy makers in the short run should borrow from the toolkit of evidence-based programs from other regions, such as early childhood development and mentoring programs, interventions to increase retention of high-risk youth in secondary schools, and opening schools after-hours and on weekends to offer youth attractive activities to occupy their free time”.
Projecting forward, the Faculties of Education and Social Sciences at the University of Guyana should consult with the Ministry of Education and related entities such as UNICEF to develop programmes to prepare a cadre of individuals to provide the range of social services needed within schools and communities across the country.
Plans will have to be devised to seamlessly integrate these programmes into the structures of the education system. Mechanisms must be put in place to monitor and evaluate the various interventions, identify best practices and share information.
This issue requires a comprehensive, collective effort that will facilitate the development of balanced, well-adjusted youths with positive outlooks on life. Ultimately, the quality of life we experience going forward will depend significantly on the steps we take to address the challenges facing our children today.

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