CSJP hopes initiative will benefit all schools

STACEY-ANNE WHITTINGHAM-TUCKER, psychologist with the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) III, said the hope is that last Thursday’s workshop for teachers, geared at the development of cognitive skills and curbing at-risk behaviour, will have an impact the wider school community. The training session was held at the Sea Garden Hotel in Montego Bay, St James.

Social Worker with CSJP Western Desmond Stewart echoed this hope, noting that primary schools have been targeted to allow teachers to help students receive intervention early.

“Some of the teachers say that they were not aware that some of the behaviours displayed by students were due to mental challenges, and knowing this, staff would now be able to approach it in a different way, and they are appreciative of it. We are happy we can help in that way as we understand that if these problems are not solved, it can lead to students becoming dysfunctional members of society,” he said.

Principal of the Catherine Hall Primary and Infant School, Dudley James, described the session as informative and engaging. The school is the latest in a series of institutions to benefit from the initiative.

“The information that we gleaned from the workshop will be quite useful in the classroom as it looks at the child’s whole cognitive development and at how best we can look at the child’s thought processes and see what strategies we can apply to curtail certain behaviours. For me it is a very important workshop,” he said.

Representatives from the Dispute Resolution Foundation and the Restorative Justice Unit also delivered presentations to the participants, featuring ways in which schools can access services.