Common Place For Future Criminals

The impetus for writing about the issues and some of the arguments that run amok over a study linking criminals to schools is a subject that’s close to my heart.

I want to point out basically there are external factors affecting mindless criminal behaviours in children attending schools. Let me get straight to the facts, I witnessed serious gambling, smoking, guns, bullets, knifes, violence among any other things that repeated over the five years attending and High school. I don’t want to add anymore undue vehement attention for this higher learning institution than what it already received, so for that reason the name is not necessary to be mentioned now.

There weren’t a lot of incentives for students to stop from willfully violating any school rules like creating rewards for early birds, top academic performers and athletes for starters. There wasn’t any enforcing mechanism at the school to steer students away from repeating anti social behaviour other than self shaming punishments like standing in the sun or walking around the corridor a few times like animals. The counsellor was one thing and it would appear she was more in favour of selling Tiki chocolate bars and sweets than being effective at her job. There was a lot more left to be desired based on how the school administrators dealt with problem children.

When it’s gun down before show down in a community where any lively school activity could be interrupted by explosions to go along with a dead body. There was not much the school principal or chairman could do about all the criminal elements surrounding. Imagine going to a school where it wasn’t safe enough for students’ competition that sports day have to be held at Up Park Camp. Imagine a school community full of unrepentant gun talking Rambos who rob and bully students which influence males to carry from razor blades to Swiss army knives to defend off any attack. Therefore it shouldn’t be difficult to understand why many male students would aspire to be gangsters starting from high school.

Although the data coming out of prison might have been anecdotal it’s supporting my position that Jamaica is littered with a lot of males students who peaked at High school playing football, cricket, basketball and so on who had grave problems at home without any role models and in their heads thinking they’re super stars who fall right through the cracks of the educational system.

Look at it from this angle also. A male who wasn’t into arts, sports or any trade class would have been left out because that’s where most of the school curriculum focus was on. It would have to take a lot more effort to figure out where to fit in for those who didn’t feel motivated going to school like me, whose teachers wouldn’t know what to do with because I was a precocious child growing up that pushed formal education because I read a lot of stuff that wasn’t consistent with what was being taught in the classroom.

Second of all a lot of what was being taught in high school wasn’t important to me because I was told by two different teachers comprehension wasn’t my thing because I tend to give more explanation than what is needed and how it came across appalling to them in some cases. A few would exercise their prejudices against students. In one instance I was branded as a mulatto while sticking it to me in the same breath saying your slower and have no means being successful in particular to white people and grinning away. There is a lot more I could say which wouldn’t be of interest to anyone just demonstrating that teachers who use and show their biases it would be perceived as scolding with a hammer on your head by students at times like me.

There will be no resolution to any of the underline issues of criminal schools if the primary factors of poverty, special education, community and family challenges aren’t fixed; all the comments people had made in response to the topic in contrast it doesn’t seem like it’s common knowledge. These are not guesses on my part when everything played out right in front of my eyes, ears and presence. No doubt about it.

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