Mary Clarke, Contributor

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There have been too many incidents of violence in schools, or involving children, since the start of the year. Children have been victims, perpetrators and witnesses of severe acts of violence, all having serious negative effects on children, members of staff, communities and the society at large.

There have been many debates and suggestions as to how to deal with this problem of violence, and the work of the School Resource Officers (SROs) and guidance counsellors must be commended.

There are no easy answers and no quick fixes to the problem of children and violence and, in particular, school violence.

The question to be asked is: why is there so much anger and desire to lash out, retaliate and hurt among our children?

Many factors are responsible for this, and the video 'Seeing Red' provides us with some answers. This was produced as a UWI/UNESCO project under the leadership of Professor Ronald Young, neuropsychologist and dean at the UWI. It demonstrated the impact of the environment on the development of the brain of the child, the responses of the child to these external stimuli, and how these can lead to violent behaviour.

act on impulse

It highlighted the impact of nutrition and stress (caused by fear, violence abuse, living conditions, improper parenting, and poverty) on the child. Many children thus affected tend to act on impulse and not through careful thought, with 'fuses getting shorter and tempers getting quicker'.

The relationship between stress and violence cannot be underemphasised and is seen in our society on a daily basis.

The video also demonstrated quite graphically the impact of early-life experiences on the child. Where children are exposed to violence in the home and community they are more likely to grow up with a violent disposition.

There was also evidence that the brain of a malnourished child cannot develop properly, and this may give the child a head start to a violent reaction. In the 1980s when Madagascar began its programme to reduce hunger, there were better outcomes for children within 10 years, and within 20 years incidents of violence were reduced by 35 per cent.

Other research has also shown that in addition to the factors already mentioned, risk factors for violence and abuse also include involvement of other members of the family in similar activities, exposure to and witnessing of violence, a history of being a troublemaker and low levels of literacy.

Dramatisation of a couple having a dispute. Children often suffer negatively after being witnesses to violent conflicts among adults.- Filemultifaceted solution

Any solution to the problem of school violence must, therefore, be multifaceted. It is being recommended that these findings be given careful and urgent consideration in the putting forward of solutions to deal with the problem. Such solutions would, of necessity, involve many stakeholders.

May I highlight the need to:

Pay more attention to the nutrition of children from the antenatal period, and especially in the early years.

Identify and seek to mitigate the impact of stress factors at the community level.

Identify children with behavioural and emotional problems very early and seek appropriate interventions. Too often we get reports that perpetrators have had a history of unacceptable behaviour and aggression, always giving trouble, bullying, or teasing other children. We must refer troubled children to those who are trained to deal with them and on a timely basis. Expansion of the Child Guidance Clinics, for short- and long-term treatment, would be one avenue of help.

Expand the work of the School Resource Officers and create teams of social workers and guidance counsellors who can do adequate home visits to aid in diagnosis and treatment initiatives

Expand targeted programmes to deal with underachievers and illiteracy in schools.

There is evidence to suggest that it is the older teenagers who carry weapons to school, so there is a need for early intervention with violence prevention programmes before children get to the age where they can be recruited by gangs.

There must be adequate treatment of children exposed to violence through prolonged therapy to prevent the victims of today becoming the perpetrators of tomorrow.

Treat with urgency the need to help adults to find alternatives to corporal punishment in the disciplining of children. Violence begets violence.

Seek to improve living conditions of the vulnerable, where children can have safe places to play and organised after-school activities.

Educate children on the consequences of carrying weapons, and worse, of using these to inflict injury.

Encourage adults and other stakeholders, in media, cable, etc, to set good examples for children. Have more positive influence through popular culture of music and entertainment.

We must love and respect the children in our society, and service providers should be encouraged to try to understand the needs of children, especially when this is acted out in antisocial behaviour.

We must use research findings and empirical data to inform us as we seek solutions to this growing problem. Let us seek to build on the identified protective factors and to minimise or eliminate the impact of the risk factors. Measures taken will have to include some long-term ones, and it will be interesting to document the impact of the present emphasis on early childhood development, five to 10 years ahead.

Mary Clarke is the Children's Advocate. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.