With the 2008 GraceKennedy/ISSA Boys' & Girls' Athletic Championships on the horizon, the issue of violence among and within schools once again rises to the forefront. School rivalries seem to go hand-in-hand with the annual sporting competition. There are stories of flag-burning, mobbing, and students attacking other students from competing schools.

Outside of the Champs-related school violence, we are all familiar with the numerous reports of gangs within schools, students carrying knives and guns where their books should be, and teachers being threatened by those they are responsible for educating.

A sound argument for the explosion in violent activity in the schools is that it is simply mirroring the excessive violence present in our society. Indeed, our general elections seem to be nothing more than 'champs' for the general public. There is the same occurrence of violence between opposing sides, the same irrational importance placed on 'team colours', and the same rabid and unnecessary competitiveness spearheaded by those who are neither politicians nor athletes.

This, coupled with our year-round high incidence of criminal activity, suggests that the violence within our schools will not subside until it does in the larger Jamaican society.

The violence among our male students may also be some misguided display of masculinity. There is an enormous dearth of fathers playing their roles - one of which is educating the young men of this country what it really means to be a man. The result of this is manifested daily; our youth digest the messages of 'badmanism' and 'gangsta fi life' that they hear in music and among their peers, and act them out, believing that they are a true representation of what makes a true man.

Whatever the cause of this epidemic of sorts within our schools, there is no doubt that a solution is needed to eradicate it, before it takes out the TEENs next in line for the running of our country.

It is now 2008, a new year, with new resolutions and the pressures of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) exams from parents and teachers. This is the first pressure we feel as TEENagers.

So we must ask, why is it that at this time, some parents pressure their children over their limits?
Some parents make it seem as if our passing the GSAT exams is for their gain and not ours. Parents need to accept that we feel the stress of exams enough, even without constant nagging.

Some parents even go as far as promising their children luxuries and gifts, thinking that it will push us to do better. But for some children, this will only make things worse. Do you know what it is like to fail, worse when you know that you will not be getting that new bicycle, that new computer or that trip to Disney Land? Do you know what that does to us mentally?

This is why when the GSAT results are in and parents are not comfortable with the results of their children, some children think of running away, or even worse, committing suicide.

Parents, instead of pressuring your children about exam results, why not hug them and show them that they are loved and that you are proud of them regardless of the school that they pass for. After all, even students in some of the so-called 'low schools' can still come out on top.