Gov't to tackle bullying in schools

The government is working with UNICEF to create an anti-bullying campaign for schools, according to Education Minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon as a means to address the ongoing bullying problem.

"We don't just want to put a band-aid on the problem; that's not our administration's approach to anything. It's about understanding deeply what the issue is," Morris Dixon stated at this morning's post-Cabinet press briefing.

The announcement follows recent tragedies where two high school students died in suspected suicides, which are believed to be linked to bullying.

She noted that UNICEF was engaged in addressing the problem to ensure that Jamaica's methods would be in line with international standards.

Morris Dixon revealed, too, that the work, which she said is "quite advanced", will also involve appealing to parents of perpetrators of bullying to take advantage of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency's therapeutic centres.

In addition to having wellness weeks in schools, the Minister also pointed out that anti-bullying messaging is also a part of schools' Health and Family Life Education curriculum.

"You don't want to do interventions that are just piecemeal, because a lot of time in Jamaica, we do - this feels right, this seems right, let me do this intervention, let me work with the students in this [way]. But there are international standards and international programmes that have worked," she said.

The Minister also appealed to Jamaicans to destigmatise mental health concerns and to seek help when needed.

Last week, President of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, Mark Malabver, called for the Ministry of Education to take a more targeted approach to what he described as the age-old problem of bullying.

"There needs to be a public education around bullying," he told The STAR.

"It has been something that is a part of our education system for a while, and we have never really taken the sort of approach that we need to eliminate bullying in our schools."

- Sashana Small

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