Retired educators sound alarm on youth deviance, urge moral rebuilding

Concerned by a surge in youth violence and indiscipline, two recently retired educators with over 90 years’ combined teaching experience are urging parents to take a more active role in their children’s moral and spiritual upbringing, citing the breakdown of family structures and a lack of spiritual grounding as key drivers of troubling behaviour among school-aged children.

Speaking to reporters following a ceremony at Western Light Church of the Nazarene on Friday, former principal Ometa Hinds and retired senior teacher Bondette Daniel urged parents to become more intentional in guiding their children-both morally and spiritually-amid increasing reports of school violence and youth crime.

“I would also like to add to that that parents need to pray over their children,” Hinds said. “Even if they are not doing it for their own lives, consider the children as the offspring and planting seeds of faith and strong belief in God and prayers and blessings over their children.”

She continued: “Even when they’re sleeping at night… you go and you pray over them and there is power in anointing with oil. I have been encouraging parents to do that and they’ve been giving me some good results as the years go by. It’s not an overnight thing. It is something that as you continue to do it consistently that you begin to see the fruit.”

Daniel, who also taught for more than four decades, lamented the erosion of traditional support systems for young people.

“The children need to get back to Sunday School. That’s where the foundation started for us even growing up,” she said, adding that the absence of fathers in many homes was a key contributor to emotional instability among boys.

“You need the male figure. A lot of them are angry… because the male figure is missing from their lives and they need to have that support from both. We know mothers are there, but fathers play an important role, and fathers need to know that they play an important role in the lives of these children as well.”

Their comments come against a backdrop of growing national concern over youth deviance and violence in schools. In recent months, the issue has made headlines with several alarming incidents, including students caught with weapons, video-recorded fights circulating on social media, and increased police intervention on school premises.

Last September, at the start of the new school year, the Ministry of Education launched a comprehensive behavioural audit and counselling initiative in response to the surge in violence and indiscipline. Former Minister of Education Kay McConney at the time called for a “whole-of-society” approach to tackling the problem, noting that schools alone cannot fix what begins in the home and community.

Community leaders, church groups, and civil society organisations have echoed the call for stronger parental involvement and a return to values-based education as essential steps in reversing the tide.

For Hinds and Daniel, however, the solution lies not only in policy but in a cultural and spiritual recommitment. Daniel added: “We have to go back to basics. It starts in the home. It starts with love, discipline, and the presence of God.” (SZB)