Alvarez (left) and Oshane, of Elletson Road Primary and Infant School, have got one message for the rest of Jamaica - 'Bat for Peace' - as they attend the PALS Peace Day celebration at the Vauxhall High School in east Kingston yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Vauxhall High rocked yesterday as students from the east Kingston school rallied for peace during a Peace Day ceremony held on the grounds of the institution.

Peace Day, an initiative of Peace and Love in Society (PALS) in collaboration with the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), was observed under the Cricket World Cup-inspired theme: 'No violence, Jus' Bat for Peace'.

The peace concert, sponsored by the Community Security Initiative, was a major success with students singing and dancing as entertainers, Fab Five, Ashe, Penincillin, Gem Myers, among others, performed several songs for them.

Best place to start

Andrew Holness, Opposition Spokesman on Education, congratulated PALS on its initiative and noted that the best place to start working for peace was in schools.

"Jamaica seems to be in a perennial state of conflict and for us to break that, young ones need to understand the concept of peace," Mr. Holness said.

Lieutenant Colonel Oral Khan, the chairman of the SafeSchools Secretariat, said he was happy with the transformation under way at Vauxhall High.

The school, located in the volatile Brown's Town area of east Kingston, has experienced several spates of violence over the years, from girls being sexually harassed to men running on to the school compound with guns.

"We commend residents of the Brown's Town community for putting in place a community council. Without the support of the community, all we do in the school would be futile," he said.

Angela Chaplain, principal of the institution, said her school was chosen to host the main Peace Day concert because it had satisfied the criterion of a safe school.

"I think the school has a tremendous responsibility to continue the message here today," she said.