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Presiding Bishop of the Christian Holiness Church in Jamaica, Rev Dr Alvin Bailey, is urging the education ministry to focus on what he says is an alarming level of homosexuality, occult practices, extortion, crime and violence and gross intimate relationships across schools in Jamaica.Bailey, in a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer following multiple reports of students being found with instruments that can be used as weapons in schools, and in some instances harming their peers, said the ministry often stresses about academics and finances, while turning a blind eye to the problems he highlighted."Sexual deviance in schools is at an alarming proportion. It's just a matter of time when somebody meets their demise, or there is aggression, a killing or beating or somebody hurt a child in school because of these incidents, that they are brought to the attention of the public. There is a heightened involvement in sexual activity in co-ed schools and also single sex schools, where homosexuality is prevalent, sex on school compound is prevalent."And extortions are now in schools. And I am talking about primary school and high schools in particular. The problem is the school administrations know about these things and are very abreast of the causes and how uncontrollable it is, but they are often covered up in order to protect the reputation of the school and to sometimes protect school staff who are involved, especially if the school is a prominent school," Bailey said.Pointing to the incident wherein a 16-year-old grade 10 student at William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny was stabbed to death on Monday, March 21 during a dispute with his classmate, allegedly over a stolen 'guard' ring, Bailey told the Sunday Observer that occult practices have long been in schools."Not only the more modern ones of guard rings that we have heard - but persons who have been giving their children bath, taking them to Obeah man on the first day of school, at the beginning of school or even in the school term in order to help them in their academic performance if they believe their lives are in danger, or that they need to be protected."The schools, he added, are like a microcosm of what happens in our society."Society's heightened crime and violence, deviance of all sorts is reflected in the behavioural patterns of schools in the forms of misconduct that we have been seeing," he said."I have recognised, and I think the society knows that there is an unexplainable phenomenon with the correlation between patterns of behaviour in schools and the communities in which the schools are located, which also reflects the academic performance of these schools. If a school has high behavioural patterns, patterns of deviance and crime and violence in the schools, you normally have low academic performance."Meanwhile, speaking specifically on crime, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston Kenneth Richards told the Sunday Observer that the recent rise of violence in schools is cause for "grave concern.""However, as the saying goes, 'Children live what they learn' and 'actions speak louder than words.' Hence, our children are mimicking what they observe taking place. It is difficult for some children who may have a social deficit in right and wrong attitudes to social engagement to resist dealing with conflicts other than being adversarial," Richards said."They may hear messages of respect for life and respect for others, but the examples around them defeat considerations of such values. There are little examples that can inspire self-restraint," he continued.Two weeks ago, several parents admitted to the Sunday Observer that they encourage their children to take weapons to school to defend themselves while heading home, in the event of life-threatening situations arising.The discussion followed a social media post by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) a week prior, which highlighted tools that were confiscated from students at a school after a search. Thirteen scissors and four knives were counted, among other things.On February 7, a student at Maggotty High in St Elizabeth had to seek medical attention after he was stabbed with a pen that lodged in his forehead. A picture of the student with the pen protruding from his forehead was released on social media.Superintendent Dwight Daley, commanding officer of the St Elizabeth police, said the incident occurred after two boys got into a confrontation.Most recently, on March 30, a female student from the Petersfield High School in Westmoreland received treatment at hospital after a stabbing incident at the institution.Another female student allegedly removed a knife from her underwear and stabbed her peer, during an altercation in the first session of school. Both students are said to be in grade 10.The remaining students were released from lessons at 10:30 am after another fight started. That was diffused and then a third incident took place outside the school grounds. This was also diffused by students.Richards added: "Our children are growing up in a society where they observe the commonplace practice where the hero is the gangster and criminality thrives. There is a prevailing disregard for a moral order that safeguards that which is noble. We have much work at hand to reverse the current reality."Senior pastor of Hope Gospel Assembly Rev Dr Peter Garth said he relates what is happening now as it regards crime, primarily to the psychosocial issues confronting the students amid the novel coronavirus pandemic."If you speak with many of the schools, they are seeing a little unusual hype in the students since they have come back. They are seeing some manic as well as some who are withdrawn. I feel that what we see happening now with the students is a little out of the ordinary and certainly, I think that the schools need to swiftly put something in place."I know that they have programmes where they get into conflict resolution and all of that. But the reality is, when a student carries a weapon to school, it is saying a little more than what we think. If you hide a weapon, it means that you have intentions either to protect yourself or to harm somebody. And so, schools have to be a little bit more diligent and have more students into counselling," he told the Sunday Observer.Garth said he has heard that some guidance counsellors have been saying that they have been putting students in counselling."A number of parents have called me because of the behaviour of their children and some of them are actually being treated. What they have discovered is that in some of them, there is depression, there is hyped up anxiety. I think that the pandemic certainly has had an effect on our children in a negative way and their responses are not normal."And I think the Ministry of Health has been saying it, that they have been dealing with the matter of trying to get counsellors to deal with our children, especially the adolescents. And so, when parents call, I ask them to go and get this thing checked out. If the child was not like that and is suddenly behaving in an aggressive manner, they need to check it out."Reverend Canon Garth Minott, deputy president of United Theological College of the West Indies, reasoned that violence in schools is not a new phenomenon and that it cannot be said that it is widespread, as most schools seem to be settled and getting on with the business of teaching and learning.At the same time, he added, the "few cases" of violence in some schools is indeed cause for concern."The use of school resource officers and deans of disciplines, pre-COVID-19 realities, point to the need to address a perennial problem. At its root is anger, which is pervasive in the society and manifested in the epidemic of violence. Religion has been used in the past to justify and support violence and the use of the fully loaded guard ring infused in cultural retention, reinforces the beliefs of many that a higher power is the only means of addressing problems beyond our control," he told the Sunday Observer."This is another opportunity to exorcise the demon of excessive anger in the society and there are tools, exercises and spiritual practices such as anger management and meditation which can provide support and solutions."Meanwhile, Bailey told the Sunday Observer that the guidance counsellors in schools can attest to the situations he highlighted."Maybe they should be the ones who are talking loudly because they need help to manage the kind of heightened and escalation in these areas in the schools. Very often, the school supervisor who comes around does not take an interest in these things because it seems as if the Ministry of Education doesn't have the competence or the will to deal with some of these deviant behaviours that are just not new," Bailey argued.A greater level of supervision and investigation, he added, needs to be done in schools to identify deviant behaviour."There are some that have not yet come to light. The amount of self-acclaimed homosexual children that are in high schools are unbelievable. The level of extortion and crime on school compounds in unbelievable."