Multi-dimensional Approach needed to get School Children off the Streets – Joe Issa

As the nation grapples with indiscipline among school children on the streets of Kingston and other towns and cities across the island, former President of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, Joe Issa, has called for a multi-dimensional approach to getting students to leave the streets and go home.

 

“Up and down the country you find school children loitering about at bus stops and plazas causing concern for commuters and shoppers…such gathering provide the conditions for ‘the perfect storm’, which must not be allowed to develop.

 

“To prevent youth violence from taking over our streets and business places may take our combined efforts as stakeholders, with each playing its part at various levels to ensure that children go home immediately after school, and if they won’t do it voluntarily, they must be forced to do so, with sanctions applied,” says Issa, who is founder of the Cool brand of products.

 

He states, “We must ‘nip this in the bud’, we have to solve that problem early, before it gets out of hand, even if it means allocating separate buses for school children and, as far as possible, to pick them up at the school gate.

 

“Along with this we could deploy police officers or other uniformed safety and security officers at strategic bus stops to deter misbehavior and ensure that the students leave the streets,” Issa says. 

 

Noting that an effective programme of management of children between school and home could be costly in terms of personnel and vehicle, Issa says, however, “this is nothing compared to the cost of doing nothing,” explaining, “We could have disturbances whenever they are in groups and, worst yet, we may be allowing a dangerous trend to develop.”

 

He also stressed the importance of breaking out of the cycle of silence which leaves criminals free to roam the streets and continue their murderous acts. “This young generation must not be allowed to grow and embrace that cycle of silence. They must be taught to take responsibility early. In this regard, parents have a major role to play in ensuring that their children become proud and responsible adults.”

 

“There is no denying that we as parents, school administrators and law enforcers have our work cut out for us; that’s why we have to meet as stakeholders to agree on what to do. We may have to try a combination of things at several levels, but whatever it is that we agree upon, let’s go out and do it,” says Issa, an ardent advocate for ‘a good education for all Jamaican children’, especially the disadvantaged.

 

Through his Cool Charities, a subsidiary of Cool Group, Issa has sponsored many activities to promote purposeful engagement of children and young adults, while keeping them off the streets and away from criminality. At the same time, the youths are also given the opportunity to develop healthy lifestyles and become successful adults.