Several parents and guardians of student athletes from secondary schools in the parishes of St. Thomas, Kingston and St. Andrew, turned out to support the launch of the inaugural series of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO)/National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) Anti-Doping Education Parenting Workshops, on April 6, 2017, at Jamaica College. The workshop was held under the theme “Preventing Doping: Parents Reach One, Teach One.”
JADCO has partnered with the NPTAJ to host a total of six workshops islandwide. The workshops are geared towards educating the parents and guardians of secondary school student athletes and are being hosted with funding from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Speaking at the launch on behalf of the Hon. Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Chairman of JADCO, Alexander Williams said, “I am very pleased that you are here this morning, recognising how busy we all are. Your presence is a demonstration of your commitment to learning about anti-doping in sport and to partnering with JADCO to examine how best to protect our student athletes, by promoting practices and behaviours that will lead to healthy lifestyles and strong positive characteristics.”
He further added, “Sincere gratitude must be expressed to UNESCO for its longstanding partnership with Jamaica and specifically JADCO in its public education campaign, promoting fair play and integrity in sport. This partnership has now been further enriched by the tremendous support of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica. We know that without the support of the parents there can be no real impact made by the public education programme.”
Also speaking at the event, President of the NPTAJ, Everton Hannam said, “We are grateful to UNESCO for their tangible support towards the implementation of this project which seeks to engage parents of young and upcoming athletes in the important area of anti-doping. The partnership with JADCO continues to expand since we started in 2014, when they delivered a presentation at the Annual Conference of the NPTAJ.”
Programme Specialist for Social and Human Sciences and Gender Focal Point of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, Giselle Burbano said, “In every society, sport is a field of dreams and a force for fabulous positive change. We must do everything to harness this power.”
At the workshop, participants were provided with values-based education and information about JADCO’s functions and responsibilities, the 10 Anti-Doping Rule Violations, the doping control process, among other topics. Dr. Michell Hunter, a representative from the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA), made a presentation on the health consequences of doping.
The Commission will host five additional workshops at the following locations; Church Teachers’ College on Thursday, May 4, Annotto Bay High School on Thursday, May 18, William Knibb High School on Thursday, June 22, Mount Alvernia High School on Thursday, June 29 and G.C. Foster College on Thursday, July 6.
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