Target Population
The program's main emphases are on providing individuals and groups with
remediation, family life education, and skills training, targeting groups
in Granville and its environs. These are the Sam Sharpe Marching Band;
the Melody House for Girls; the "Footballers" who daily play scrimmage on
the games field of the College, and the youth groups of the Churches in
Granville, Pitfour and Tucker.
The program currently reaches more than 500 adolescents from these
groups. All adolescents served fall into one or more of the following
special population:
- Teenage Parents
- Juvenile Delinquents
- Slow Learners
- Street Children
The Sam Sharpe Marching Band,
began in 1976 by the College, had an
average attendance each evening of 30. The membership at present stands at
60, mainly males. It is significant that as the females grow older, they
drop-out of the band, very often because of pregnancy and the fear of
sexual harassment by the males, both in the band and on the way to and
from meetings.
The lack of instruments has hampered "full participation" by the members
who range in age from 8 to 25 year-old, and from students to casual workers.
While the interest of students in school has been heightened, achievement
levels are low and so promotion to secondary education still eludes the
majority.
The Melody Home for Girls is a haven
for young women who have been abused, caught up in family entanglements
and have become pregnant too early. These young girls need more than
just a place to stay; they need counseling, parenting skills and in many
instances remedial education to enable them to re-enter the mainstream
of the community.
Discussions with community leaders and social workers reveal that many
young girls are uninformed or misinformed about their reproductive
system; few have realistic plans for themselves, and a vast majority
see motherhood as a way of being cared for by the male. The program
targets young females in the area, including those who are already
pregnant, and those sexually active, to provide counseling, remedial
education and vocational training.
Among the "Evening Sportsmen"
are those who daily play scrimmage, basketball, cricket on the
College driveway, ride bicycles on the Games Field of the College,
youth who are unemployable because of their level of academic abilities
and lack of skills, repeated offenders of the law, and those being
charged with assault or simple larceny. Their lack of respect for other
people's property and their individualism are evident in the way they
have vandalized the field, cutting holes in the fences to gain
immediate access rather than walking through the gates that are
left open.
The rivalry within communities is often carried on to the sports field
and their Corner Leagues in football are hampered with disciplinary
problems. Where consistent leadership is given, there have been
instances of positive growth.
The males have been so intent on playing games of football that
they take over the areas reserved for netball, a female dominated
game, leaving the young women as spectators each evening.
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