Men needed

Barbados is in desperate need of positive male role models.

That’s the view of psychologist and director of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development, Shawn Clarke, who addressed the matter while revealing details about his upcoming Supreme Heads Up Project, which will provide haircuts for 50 young male students from primary and secondary schools.

Clarke, who spoke against the backdrop of a recent wave of violent gun-related incidents, said that for some time now, parents have been coming forward in their numbers seeking positive male influences for their troubled children.

“We have seen that there has been an increase in requests for male mentors and psychologists… A lot of parents when they call they say they have a son and they would prefer to have them speak to a male. They think that a male would be better for them. Some go as far as to say that their sons are surrounded by females in the household, so a male would be an additional touch,” he told Barbados TODAY.

“It says to me that our adult males need to step up to the plate and do a bit more in terms of providing that positive leadership for our young people; especially our young males, giving them that outlet, that opportunity to be able to speak to a positive male who would have made it through hardships, to offer them that hope.”

The Supreme Heads Up Project, which is targeted primarily at students currently being raised in single-parent households where the parent may be unemployed or working for minimum wage, is slated for Saturday September 17th at the Supreme Counselling office on Pine Hill Road, St Michael.

Clarke explained that with many parents currently experiencing economic hardships, the team felt that they could assist in some way in preparing some students for back to school.

“Many parents have been calling us and complaining how difficult it is, how tough times are, and that their son is going into secondary school this year and they are finding it so difficult to get them something as small as a haircut.

“We realised that there are other charities that are providing school uniforms and stationery and so on and we did not want to duplicate what was already happening. We felt then to offer this initiative to young males.”

Besides the free haircuts for the 50 male students, freshly prepared food will be available along with male mentors and psychologists during the event.

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb