Salt Marsh teacher wants mentorship programme for boys

The boys attending Salt Marsh Primary and Infant School in Trelawny may soon become the recipients of a mentorship programme aimed at making them positive contributors to society.

Venisha Brown-Gordon, the head of the school's primary department, has expressed interest in imparting positive values to her boy students.

"We find that a lot of our boys are not really interested in academics; they are more interested in playing, and they are very rough and crass and need to know how to respect somebody's personal space," said Brown-Gordon.

"Most incidents in the schools today, the boys are the instigators. If we can cut down on that, we are making them better and you have more time to build them academically. I want them to learn how to function in society and how to relate to the opposite sex," she said.

The plans for the mentorship programme which Brown-Gordon has so far presented to Salt Marsh Primary principal Mervyn Sinclair would see outside entities being brought in to show the boys what choices they have for career paths.

"We want to involve the community, corporate Jamaica, the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) and, if possible, the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) or the Cadet Corps because the boys need some form of discipline," said Brown-Gordon. "We are looking at career engagements to let them know what is out there for them, and we could get even the HEART Trust to come on board to give them skills training."