Beyond Outrage: Jamaica's School Violence Crisis Demands Action and Sustained Care

KINGSTON, Jamaica - EntSun -- Recent incidents at St. Elizabeth Technical High School, Jamaica College, and Seaforth High have brought national attention to the realities of violence affecting children across Jamaica.

At STETHS, multiple fights led to suspended classes. At Jamaica College, a viral assault video prompted an internal investigation and police involvement. At Seaforth High School, a dispute that reportedly began on school grounds ended in the fatal stabbing of 13-year-old Kland Doyle near the Morant Bay Transport Centre, after which three students were taken into custody.

These incidents are not isolated signs of indiscipline. They are visible expressions of the strain, violence, grief, and unmet emotional needs many young people carry into schools and public spaces every day.
Jamaica's 2023 Violence Against Children and Youth Survey found that more than three out of four young people aged 13 to 24 have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, while nearly one in four girls reported experiencing sexual violence during childhood. In 2024, the National Children's Registry received 13,918 reports relating to 25,005 incidents involving abuse and other care and protection concerns. School violence cannot be understood apart from the wider environments children are being asked to navigate.

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STETHS is also still recovering from Hurricane Melissa, which damaged the campus and disrupted student life. When homes, routines, and support systems are destabilized, children often carry that disruption silently until it appears in ways adults are quick to punish but slow to understand.

This crisis is not children's alone. You cannot ask adults to parent through unprocessed trauma. You cannot ask teachers to hold classrooms while they themselves are unheld. You cannot ask children to regulate emotions no adult has helped them name. Mental health and socio-emotional support must reach the adults raising, teaching, and standing beside our children—not only the children themselves.

"Jamaica's children are not the crisis. They are carrying one. And they cannot carry it alone," said Shellie-Ann Kerns, Executive Director of Yaadi Strong Foundation. "What is required is a national commitment to showing up with resources, consistency, and care."

Jamaica urgently requires trauma-informed community support, stronger school partnerships, expanded mental health resources, and sustained investment in programs that reach young people and the adults who care for them before harm escalates into crisis.

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Yaadi Strong is calling for:

• Volunteers for youth outreach, mentorship, and school-community engagement;
• Funding to expand counseling referrals, crisis response, and long-term family support;
• Greater national commitment to treating child and family distress as collective responsibility rather than private failure.

Children should not have to communicate pain only through conflict, withdrawal, or tragedy. Jamaica's children need safety, dignity, structure, and sustained care.

To support Yaadi Strong Foundation, visit https://yaadistrong.org to volunteer or donate.