Parents are being encouraged to take advantage of the help offered by the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF). Manager of the Youth Services and Administration Division, at the DRF, Cherrol Taylor, wants parents and guardians to know they are not entirely alone in helping their children to develop. “Help is here; take it. That is what I want to say to...

Without the $500,000 grant from M & M Jamaica Limited, Gavieal Gordon, a third-year medical student at the University of the West Indies (UWI), would not have been able to meet her financial obligations to the university and faced the possibility of being deregistered. Ms. Gordon, who hails from the community of Woodford in East Rural St. Andrew, had made...

Jamaican Scientist, Dr. Camir Ricketts, wants to widen the access to mentorship for students across Jamaica. He intends to do this through his programme, ‘Minds of Jamaica’, where students can have access to professionals from several industries. These mentors are what he calls, ‘the Minds’. Dr. Ricketts says mentorship should not only be used as a behavioural intervention tool for...

For most 17-year-olds, the approach of summer 2021 represents a time when their sole focus is on preparing for final and exit examinations, all while looking forward to a much needed break from online learning and face-to-face instruction. However, for one teen, The Queen’s School student, Kyla Gaynor, responding to the requests of her peers in fulfilling extracurricular obligations while...

Parents and guardians are being implored to look out for signs that children may need additional support in coping mentally and emotionally during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A study conducted by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Jamaica in 2020, in collaboration with the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), on the impact of COVID-19 shows that most households reported increases...

Two outstanding student leaders have endorsed the newly established 24-hour dedicated child and teen helpline – SafeSpot. Chairman of the Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) Children’s Advisory Panel, Ronaldinho McLean, and National Secondary Students Council (NSSC) Public Relations Officer, Ree-Anna Robinson, voiced their support and that of their respective organisations during the recent digital launch.    The toll-free helpline is...

Like most other entities, the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) has had to change how it operates, due to the onslaught of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The phenomenon has, however, led to greater efficiency and an expansion of its reach to the nation’s parents. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NPSC, Kaysia Kerr, tells JIS News that the Commission has...

To celebrate her 39th birthday in April, Denise Stewart, a Jamaican living in the United States (US),   decided that she wanted to do something that would be impactful. After some thought, she came up with the idea of donating 39 tablets to needy students in her native parish of St. Elizabeth and neighbouring Manchester. Earlier this year, she had provided...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought pain and suffering for people everywhere, particularly the most vulnerable,  but it has also shown that an abundance of kindness exists among persons at all levels of society, including children. One such kind soul is 13-year-old student of Denbigh High School in Clarendon, Rhianna Minott, who, since the onset of the pandemic, has taken...