JAMAICA-PM promises measures to prevent disruptive behavior by parents at schools.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—Prime Minister Andrew Holness is condemning lousy behavior by parents at schools following a viral video of a disruptive parent who was taken into police custody, and he has promised measures to prevent such situations.

Saying that such behavior will not be tolerated, he admitted that he was “distressed” to see the video being circulated online and comments supporting the parent’s actions.

“Something has gone wrong in our society when we can find ways to justify bad behavior on a school compound,” he lamented.

Holness stressed that schools must be places of good discipline and good behavior for all who attend them.

“No parent, no visitor should come on a school compound and behave in a reprehensible way that sends a signal to the entire society that the authority of the school, the authority of the teacher, the authority of the principal, and indeed the authority of law enforcement should be disrespected,” he emphasized as he spoke to students and teachers during a visit to a school in Ocho Rios.

“This society, this country, our people must speak with one voice against bad behavior and indiscipline, especially in our schools.”

Holness added that his government has started reviewing the security of the island’s schools, and once completed, changes will be made to address this type of situation.

“I want all principals, teachers, and parents to know that your prime minister and this government do not support or tolerate bad behavior in our schools.

“We have started to review the security of our schools, and I expect to get a report from the Commissioner [of Police Kevin Blake] very soon, and we will put in place the necessary measures to ensure that no adult comes on to the school compound and behaves in the way that I have seen being circulated and believe that they are going to get away with it,” he said.

Holness insisted that discipline and good behavior are necessary in society, and the place for developing those traits is in the schools.

“We must defend the schools as zones of good behavior, peace, and discipline. I am very passionate about it because seeing that kind of behavior in our schools is an embarrassment to us as a country. We must speak out against it with one determined voice so anybody else in the society that thought it was acceptable, it is not, absolutely not,” he urged.