Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Opposition Spokesman on Education, Andrew Holness, wants parents to be locked up for the delinquent behaviour of their children. Mr. Holness's suggestion comes on the heels of the recent spate of violence in several schools, which has resulted in the death of one student and injuries to several others.

Last Wednesday, the police were called in at the Kingston Technical High School after violence broke out at the institution, leaving at least five male students nursing stab wounds.

Four male students were remanded on Friday and are to return to court April 17. Prior to the incident at the school, a teacher was sexually harassed by three male students, while another male teacher was hit with a bottle after he confiscated papers from students who were cheating in a mock examination.

Upheaval

Also on Wednesday, some students were involved in a fight at the Norman Manley High School, Kingston. The police were called in to quell the upheaval.

A 17-year-old of the Aabuthnott Gallimore High School was stabbed to death by his classmate, over a week ago, resulting in the subsequent charging of a male student with the murder.

"I think we need to start putting pressure on parents," Mr. Holness told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday. "The society is bearing the cost of improper parenting and some of these parents should serve prison terms," he added.

Pointing out that some fathers serve prison terms for failing to support their children, Mr. Holness, however, stressed that children are not only in need of money, but also emotional support and love.

"We are in a crisis, and when we are in a crisis the best thing we need is leadership," he said, adding that deviant behaviours have become acceptable in schools. This required teachers and guidance counsellors to be trained to identify these negative behaviours in order to intervene swiftly.

Sylvester Anderson, president of the National Parent Teachers' Association of Jamaica agreed with Mr. Holness that delinquent parents should be held responsible for their children's behaviour.

"But we have to first examine the situation to see if parents are negligent then -sure - lock them up," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

The Ministry of Education and Youth said last week that the situation was getting "very bad" and has called an emergency meeting for Tuesday, to examine the recent upsurge of violence in schools.

email:petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com