GUIDANCE COUNSELLORS and at least one lawyer are strongly supporting the establishment of 'boot camps' or 'facilities for behavioural change' as one means of solving the growing crisis of violence in schools.
             The lawyer, André Earle of the Kingston firm Rattray, Patterson, Rattray, is also suggesting metal detectors if affordable, implementing random searches and improving school security. The guidance counsellor at one of the high schools recently involved in a bloody student assault told The Gleaner yesterday that she and most of her colleagues are "well in support" of boot camps.
             "Most of those giving problems are average, good students who are just in need of help," she said, adding that teaching parenting skills should also be mandatory for things to change.
             The counsellor, who asked not to be identified, was one of those involved participating in a seminar at the Jamaica Conference Centre yesterday.
             The seminar, titled 'Pre-serving our youths: the way forward' took place against the background of the frequency with which acts of violence were occurring with students and teachers, and was aimed at addressing the issues with tangible solutions.
             On Tuesday, the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) supported a Ministry of Education call to quickly address the problem of violence in schools by setting up special institutions to accommodate students who are seen as a threat to teachers and other students, and who otherwise have a disruptive impact on the operation of the schools.
             The JTA said since the start of the 2001/2002 academic year, there have been at least 40 cases of violence occasioning bodily harm in schools. There have been four such incidents at different high schools since last week.
             The counsellor, who said that other key problems in her high school were marijuana use and lack of proper parenting, said that the problem lay in the fact that parents have left the responsibility of parenting up
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