Students at St. Francis Primary, the venue for this year's annual Peace Day concert put on by the Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) programme, flock PALS mascot Perky Parrot shortly after his arrival at the school yesterday. - Rudolph Brown THE YOUNG and the young at heart were yesterday urged to put aside hostility, put down their weapons and let peace begin in their hearts during the island's celebration of Peace Day, an initiative of the Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) programme.
Presented through heart-warming music, stunning dance and dub poetry performances, the message at a concert at St. Francis Primary in Kingston galvanised the mostly young audience who went wild at the sight of PALS mascot Perky Parrot and performances from well-known artistes and the hilarious antics of broadcaster and emcee Fae Ellington.
Caught up in the moment, the youngsters led an enthusiastic audience in waving hands, hugging, doing the "wing" dance and belting out renditions of Bob Marley's 'One Love', Diana Ross' 'Reach out and Touch', Morgan Heritage's 'Down by the River', Tony Rebel's 'If Jah is by my side' and Stevie Wonder's 'Someday at Christ-mas', sung as 'Someday at Peacetime' by students from St. Francis.
The message, however, re-mained clear.
If you don't have peace in your heart, you will never have peace at all," Minister of State in the National Security and Justice Ministry Ben Clare stressed as he brought greetings on behalf of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. "Let us commit ourselves to peace today and spread it in the hearts of others we come across."
Students, he said, must practice peace by not bringing weapons to school or using them in their daily lives. They must also become models of positive behaviour by encouraging others to refrain from carrying weapons, Minister Clare added, mentioning yesterday's school shooting where a student fatally shot a schoolmate and injured 14 others at Santana High in California, United States.
PALS was started in 1994 to teach children and their teachers how to develop skills in conflict resolution. It has since spread to include six high schools but more volunteers and funds were needed to bring the programme to more schools.
To show support for the concept of peaceful resolution of conflicts, Jamaicans were urged to wear something blue or attach blue ribbons to their cars. Yesterday, they listened.
Blue, the colour of peace, was displayed everywhere in strings wrapped around heads, dangling from vehicles, as ribbons, as accessories and also outfits.
'Peace Day should be every day'PORUS, Manchester:
"I REALLY hope Peace Day will be every day," said 10-year-old Allison Hutchinson at yesterday's celebrations at the Hatfield Primary and Junior High School in the parish.
She described Peace Day as a day when there was no fighting, no quarrelling and no stealing.
Garth Brown, a parent, suggested more resources be allocated to conflict resolution initiatives as a means of addressing the issue of civil disorder on a long-term basis.
"While the objective of Peace Day is good, one day for the whole year is not enough," said Mr. Brown.
Speaking at the event, Rev. Raymond Seymour urged students to develop a renewed and more positive attitude towards each other. Noting actions were created by thoughts, Rev. Seymour said positive thoughts would effect positive action.
A special skit dubbed 'Connected to the Prince of Peace' was presented by members of the group called "Youth With a Mission". The skit showed how one peaceful person could positively impact on other people's lives.
Among those attending yesterday's function were Mayor of Mandeville Horace Williams, Joan Smith, representing the Ministry of Education Region 5; Sarah Brown, principal of Hatfield Primary and Junior High, and Sgt Renford Chambers, sub-officer in charge of police community relations for Manchester.
