Talk Up Yout: Glen Muir High School Tour #6

School #6 – Glenmuir High School

All-Island Tour Powered by Emprezz, UNICEF, National Baking Company, Purewater & Island Grill

On Friday the 11th of October the Talk Up Yout School tour which is powered by Emprezz, UNICEF, National Baking Company, Purewater and Island Grill, visited the Pride and Joy of Clarendon, the Glenmuir High School. The motto of Glenmuir is Flagrans Veritatis Studio which translates to “Burning with the Zeal for Truth” and the students of Glenmuir High were clearly on fire when we visited.

The panel discussion was led by Emprezz Golding and consisted of six students: Racquel Smalling, Andre Barrett, Gillian Williams, Amoy Muirhead, Xandre Mohansingh and Allison Mitchell. One of the Guidance Counsellors of Glenmuir High – Mrs A. Francis and popular Jamaican Entertainer Roy Thompson a.k.a Bugle were also on the panel. A representative from the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) Cassetta Green was on site to provide valuable information to the students.

The issues raised by the students of Glenmuir included Peer Pressure, Studying Difficulties, Bullying, The Economy, Discrimination, Child Abuse, Child Labour, Making the Right Choices, Brain Drain, Low Self-Esteem, Bleaching, Underpaid Teachers, Human Trafficking, Materialism, Condoms in Schools, The Age of Consent, Pre-Marital Sexual Activity, Unemployment and the High cost of Tertiary Education.

Of all the issues raised, The Economy was by far the most widely discussed. One would think that Glenmuir’s entire school population was studying Economics. Not only were they aware of the different phenomena surrounding Jamaica’s economy, they also quite readily gave a myriad of solutions to our economic woes.

Several students thought a change of voting style was necessary, others wanted Jamaicans to “stop complaining” and fix the problems themselves. Other students called for the educated population of Jamaica to desist from migrating for better conditions and job opportunities, but their peers retorted by saying that sometimes the best and the brightest migrate and return eventually armed with expertise to help the country.

The students were also keen on discussing the issue of Discrimination. According to them, people are still being discriminated against in Jamaica because of the colour of their skin. They gave examples of bank hiring policies which give the job to the “lighter coloured” person regardless of the superior qualifications that the “darker coloured” person may have. They also believed there was “Address-based” Discrimination being perpetuated in Corporate Jamaica.

On the issue of discrimination one very brave young lady spoke about being a victim of discrimination because of her struggle with acne. According to her she has been the victim of cruel jokes and hurtful comments for most of her high school life. She also admits to having suicidal thoughts in the past but as Emprezz comforted her she found the strength to tell everyone about her journey to self-love. She urged all her peers to spread only positivity by always being nice to each other.

One student brought tears to almost everyone’s eyes when he spoke about the murder of his cousin. He began by vehemently speaking out against the members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force who hinder people from working/ “hustling”. When Emprezz pressed him he admitted that his cousin had been killed by police officers who were given incorrect information about him by spiteful people who wished him harm. Although he had been doing very good, when Emprezz asked him how all of that made him feel he could not hold back the tears.

A member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Detective Corporal Kevin Strachan from the Trafficking in Person’s Unit gave an address to the students about the dangers of human trafficking and steps to take each day to avoid becoming a victim of human trafficking which the students heartily thanked him for.

Many students also gave their peers advice about being self-motivated and industrious because the future belongs to them and to help them in this regard Talk Up Yout Economic Adviser Aaron Ramsey gave the students tips on saving and budgeting telling them that if they save $50 per day for 365 days they will end up with around $18,250 at the end of the year.

The final words came from Emprezz, Bugle and Miss Francis. Emprezz reminded the students to believe in themselves and to create today the right attitudes and values to help them succeed tomorrow.

Mrs Francis urged them to return to the positive morals and values they were raised with and Bugle thought it was pertinent to remind the parents of these children that they have an obligation to their children to raise them properly and shield them from harm. Thus he believes they (the parents) must be educated so that they perform these functions properly.

Dub Poet Gabeana Campbell performed a moving piece called “Mi a one a dem deh yout deh” which was well received by the students of Glenmuir High who could relate to the message. The students on the panel were given gift baskets from National Baking Company and Purewater after which Bugle performed to end the day’s activities.

See you on the next Stop!

Quote of the Day:

“We need to be uploaders, not downloaders. Then we can uplift our spirits and fly!” – Student of Glenmuir High School