Discipline with compassion

Alston High School in Clarendon starts early for Andre Wellington. As dean of discipline, he is at the gate supervising searches, checking uniforms and grooming, logging infractions and calling parents.

It is a job usually associated with punishment. Wellington approaches it differently. He is also a mental health patient and advocate who has lived with schizophrenia and psychotic depression since his diagnosis in 1998.

“I represent a demographic that is widely misunderstood and underserved,” he says. “We must come out of our comfort zone and fight for fair treatment, combat stigma, and defend our human dignity.”

When a student is sent to Wellington for being disruptive, he has learned to ask a different question.

“There is normally evidence to suggest that the student is hurting emotionally,” he says. “Often times there is an absence of a good relationship with their father.”

He sees boys sent to him more frequently than girls. “I guess girls are given greater protection and support at home,” he says.

The pressures he sees today differ from those of a few years ago. He points to vaping, skin bleaching, gambling and social media addiction. Behind these issues, he says, are weaker family structures and a generation being raised as much by their phones as by their families.

“Today social media has taken over the rearing of our children,” he says.

Alston High, Wellington says, is a microcosm of Jamaica. Some students speak with sensitivity and care about mental health, while others use pejorative language.

Through its guidance counsellor, HFLE teacher and administration, the school has deliberately sought to change this, introducing programmes to educate students.

“Students may not want to ask for help because they feel a sense of shame and judgement,” he says.

He sees that shame manifest itself differently among boys and girls. Girls, he says, often face pressures around sexual issues, while boys more frequently express their struggles through what the system calls deviant behaviours, including gambling, vaping, bleaching and loitering.

Wellington says attitudes are improving, but old beliefs persist.

“The attitude of teachers and parents is a mixed bag,” he says. “There are some, for religious reasons, who believe that mental illness should be left to prayer instead of medical care. There are some parents who are still convinced that mental illness is an act of obeah or witchcraft.”

“I have been labelled as a mad man many times and treated unfairly because of my affliction,” he says. “But I have never allowed the mean spirit of others to define my self-worth.”

That is why this year’s World Mental Health Day theme, Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change, matters to him. Mental illness, he says, mainly affects young people, and schools are central to creating a positive psychosocial environment.

Alston does not have a large mental health budget. Instead, Wellington says, psychological first aid can make a difference.

“Deep breathing exercises, mindfulness and open dialogue provides an avenue for relaxation before professional help can be accessed,” he says.

Referrals are made to the guidance counsellor and the child guidance clinic.

For Wellington, a mental health-friendly approach to discipline is non-judgemental and strength-based.

“The disciplinarian will focus on students’ positive efforts, persistence and character traits instead of just the offense or flaws,” he says.

If he could ask every school to do one thing tomorrow, it would be to make mental health screening more accessible and educate students, parents and staff.

Consistent support has helped him most: the support of friends, family and colleagues, his faith in God, and the team at the Spalding Mental Health Clinic.

To a young person who is afraid of being labelled “mad”, his message is direct.

“Accept your mental health challenge and seek professional help. Tell yourself that there is no shame in sickness and mental illness can be successfully treated, managed, and controlled. Mental illness will change your life, but don’t allow it to stop you from leading a normal life.”

To a parent or teacher who suspects a child is struggling, he advises: “Seek professional help. There is a child guidance clinic in every parish that provides professional mental health support free of charge. There is help available.”

He also wants to see systemic change, including an amendment to the Mental Health Act, the establishment of a forensic mental health institution for people who come into conflict with the law, and more transitional centres for people living on the streets.

antoine.lodge@gleanerjm.com