*An evaluation of the Create Safe Places for Learning in Schools Project

Jamaica is one of the most violent societies in the world1 and as a consequence Jamaican schoolchildren,especially those living in what are often referred to as ‘inner-city’ communities are highlyexposed to violent acts, including stabbing, shooting and sexual assault. Many studies in recent yearshave reported the high percentage of Jamaican children that have witnessed a murder or seen a deadbody in mainly the Kingston Metropolitan, St James and St Catherine areas, where a multiplicity ofcriminal gangs control whole communities. This increasing phenomenon is numbing the senses ofJamaican children to violence and in turn bringing about both a fear and an acceptance of violenceas a way to resolve conflicts. Jamaican children have therefore been seen playing next to and eatingfood in close proximity to newly murdered corpses1 demonstrating inappropriate social responsesto this kind of trauma. There is no doubt that exposure to violence among Jamaican youth is a publichealth crisis that is thwarting the efforts of parents and educators to positively mould and shape theattitudes and behaviours of young people and divert them away from violence. The CSPL Project waspiloted in 30 schools between July 2007 and December 2010 and was a collaboration of the Ministryof Education, (MOE), the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) and the Violence Prevention Clinic inthe University of the West Indies (VPC).Despite the challenges that Jamaica faces with crime and violence, the World Health Organizationasserts that violence is preventable. Jamaica must therefore proceed as such if it is to respect theConvention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC) for which it is a signatory and abide by the ChildCare and Protection Act 2004, which places a statutory obligation on society to protect its childrenwherever they happen to be. The WHO Report on Violence and Health also outlines the substantialand crippling financial costs to society of violence that affects social welfare, criminal justice,health and education sectors and results in, loss of productivity, disability, decreased quality of life,premature deaths, and pervasive psychological trauma.In the view of Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, a leading world expert on violence and author ofthe 2006 UN Study on Violence Against Children, “In an environment where violence breeds moreviolence, the ways in which Jamaican children are subjected to violence are inextricably linked to theunrelenting levels of crime and violence affecting the island.” In February 2008 he urged the Jamaicangovernment do all it can to end the cycle of violence.Thirty schools were selected for the CSPL Project based on three main factors. Incidents of conflictand violence reported by the schools, geographical proximity to the DRF Peace and Justice Centres,that were established in a first phase of a project supported by UNICEF in 2006, to assist schoolswith conflict resolution and mediation in Peace and Justice Centres (PJC) facilitated by trainedYouth Peace Facilitators (YPF) located in or near to communities with elevated levels of crime andviolence. Schools were selected from Education Regions I, IV and VI covering schools in Kingston andSt Andrew, St James and St Catherine. The primary objectives of the project were to promote childrights and responsibilities, foster the skills among 200 school-based professionals, 6000 parents and6000 students to better manage anger and mitigate conflict and violence and to ultimately createa safer school environment. It also sought to promote alternative forms of discipline in schools theculturally accepted method of corporal punishment that was prohibited in schools by the MOE in 2008, but is yet to be formally abolished under the Education Regulations Act 1980.The Dispute Resolution Foundation’s primary role in the project was to work with students, schoolbasedprofessionals and parents on fostering anger management, conflict resolution and mediationstrategies in schools to reduce violence. This was delivered through a Schools Outreach Programmeand a School Suspension Programme (SSP) that offered a safe and controlled environment forschools to refer students who were suspended from school.The Ministry of Education Guidance Counselling Unit in partnership with the DRF’s Peace andJustice Centre’s primary function was to deliver the school-based component of the project. Thisincluded training teachers in conflict resolution and anger management techniques and trainingmaster trainers who could train other school-based professionals in the subject and deliverlessons using the Anger Management and Conflict Resolution toolkit (See Violence PreventionClinic) They also worked alongside Ashe Perfoming Arts Company to deliver a live dramaticproduction in schools entitled ‘Curfew’ that tackles the issues of violence and conflict resolutionthat was accompanied by small group discussions. The MOE also sought to change the disciplinaryenvironment in schools from the pro corporal punishment approach to zero-tolerance of its usethrough a process of legislative reform. In addition to this the MOE was to, sensitize school-basedprofessional, students and parents on child rights and responsibilities.With UNICEF’s technical and financial support the Violence Prevention Clinic (VPC) developed theAnger Management and Conflict Resolution toolkit, which has lessons plans and activity sheets thatcover four thematic areas; Understanding My Feelings, Understanding Anger, Anger Triggers,Skills and Techniques in Managing Anger. This material is also supported by a range of printmaterial, such as flash cards, posters, story books that are connected to the workbooks and coverages 5-7, 8-11 and 12 years and over and is underpinned by the cognitive Behavioural TherapyModel of behaviour change. The toolkit also contains a Peer Mediation manual and a ParentingToolkit that also contains lesson plans and activity sheets. The VPC delivered the training to schoolbasedprofessionals.The project was guided by a performance framework that was developed from the results of theConflict Resolution as a Solution - Creating Safe places for Learning, Baseline Assessment andPerformance Framework, conducted in February-June 2008 prior to implementation of the schoolscomponent of the pilot project. The baseline provided data on some critical areas for the projectand a performance framework that set out over thirty (30) indicators (outlined in the EvaluationFramework, Appendix VII) for which the project should monitor and evaluate.From the total target school population of 33,445, 41% (13,571) of students were exposed to theCSPL project. Some students were selected based on their teacher’s perceived risk of them, whilesome schools applied a universal approach to project implementation in their classes. There was amarked difference in the proportion of children who participated in the project in Region I, coveringKingston and Region IV covering Montego Bay, compared to Region VI covering the schools inSpanish Town.