Letter of the Day | Our boys need more than a grooming policy

THE EDITOR, Madam:

It is back-to-school time again, and Jamaica is once more discussing what students should look like when they return to school.

This year, however, the conversation is moving towards something more significant: greater consistency through a national approach to dress and grooming. There is merit in this. Schools need standards, parents need clarity, and students should not face vastly different expectations simply because they attend different schools.

At the same time, concerns have been raised about how grooming rules affect students, including our boys. Hair, after all, is not always simply a matter of neatness. Questions of culture, identity and what we consider an acceptable appearance have also become part of the conversation.

But, perhaps this moment gives us an opportunity to ask a bigger question.

While we debate how our boys should look when they enter the school gate, are we paying enough attention to who they are becoming once they get inside?

Schools teach far more than the formal curriculum of mathematics, English, science and social studies. They also teach through the example set by the adults who work within them. Students observe how teachers respond to challenges, exercise authority, admit mistakes, and treat other people. These lessons may never appear on a timetable, yet they shape character every day.

That reality brings us to an important question: Where are the men?

If positive male influence matters, how many men are actually present in our classrooms? Jamaica’s education system employs just over 3,000 male teachers. More concerning is the pipeline. Ministry of Education figures for the 2022-2023 academic year show that only 583 of the 4,255 students enrolled across Jamaica’s eight teachers’ colleges were male, less than 14 per cent.

This is not to diminish the tremendous influence female teachers have had on Jamaican boys. Women have been educating and shaping our children for generations. However, positive male participation also matters, not simply because boys need male role models, but because all students benefit from seeing men demonstrate respect, self-control, empathy and integrity.

Representation alone, however, is not enough. The real question is not whether we need more male teachers, but what kind of men we need in our schools.

A grooming policy can establish standards of dress and appearance. It can communicate discipline, consistency and appropriateness. What it cannot do is build character.

Teaching responsibility, self-control and respect is far harder than regulating hairstyles or measuring the length of a student’s pants. Helping young people grow into responsible adults requires more than a policy.

So, yes, let us have the conversation about grooming. But let us not allow the conversation to end at the school gate. The more important question is this: What kind of men are we helping our boys to become, and who are they watching as they learn how to become them?

David A Thompson