Parents Urged to Instil Positive Values Early

Parents are again being urged to instil positive values and attitudes in their children from the earliest age, so that they will be less disruptive in schools and become productive citizens.

The call has come from Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, who said this is very important, as weak social values may oftentimes be the root cause of some maladjusted behaviour that is displayed by children in schools, homes and the wider society.

“Weak social values, to my mind, are the major cramp to really positive education outcome in Jamaica. We know how to train persons to pass examinations and do other things that are appropriate to schools, but it is vital that we make up for the extraordinary amount of wasted time and effort that is occasioned, because of maladaptive behaviour,” he said.

The Minister was speaking at a behaviour management breakfast meeting, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston, on September 3.

He noted that the most important period of socialisation is during the fundamental years of a child’s life when they are enrolled at the early childhood level.

“I’m always worried when parents of a four year-old child tell me that… (their) child needs extra lessons, because they are not reading yet. They are not expected to be reading at that age, but they are expected to be robust and active and begin to be mannerly and respectful and begin to love themselves, to learn how to play and to learn how to pray,” the Minister said.

He argued that the remediation of deficiencies of behaviour, social attitude, and literacy and numeracy is also crucial at the primary and secondary levels, particularly if they were not instilled at the earlier levels.

“Otherwise, this promotion by age, rather than achievement is going to get the better of us and some of the identifiable social difficulties, either at the early childhood level, at the primary level or at the grade seven level, will blossom into full blown pathologies, which cause a great deal of difficulties later on,” the Minister said.

He lauded the partners for their collaboration in developing the School Wide Positive Behaviour Intervention Support (SWPBIS), which is a framework to be used as the guide for the implementation of various programmes in schools.

The SWPBIS is a proactive, team-based framework for creating and sustaining safe and effective schools. It places emphasis on the prevention of problem behaviour, the development of pro-social skills, and the use of data-based problem solving for addressing existing behavioural concerns.

SWPBIS is not a specific ‘model’ or ‘programme’ but rather a compilation of  practices, interventions and systems which have been proven to be effective in addressing behavioural issues in students.