Author shines light on ‘The School Gang’
· The GleanerPauline Gregory-Lewis, educator, philanthropist, and author, concerned about how young people, particularly, teenage boys are being induced by peer pressure into carrying out violent acts against fellow students in schools, has placed a spotlight on The School Gang – a story about disobedience, rebellion, fear and regret.
Describing the book as an “inspirational fiction”, the author says its targeted readership are students at the high school level but also provides an insightful look at the vagaries and effects of peer pressure on young people.
In writing the book, the author is mindful of the challenges in the school system, having spent a number of years in the classroom and as a philanthropist spearheading initiatives to assist students and at-risk youth.
She says her writing is inspired and is intended to steer young people away from behaviour and actions that have a destructive end and often lead to regrets.
“I am mindful that school is a groundswell from which gangs come,” she told The Gleaner in an interview on Monday.
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While the characters in the story are fictional, Gregory-Lewis said the experiences that are played out in the narrative are true to life.
“That’s why I call it inspirational fiction, because while there isn’t a story, as far as I am concerned, I am writing exactly about what is happening.”
The story gives an account of a young man named Andrew Jones who comes from a decent family and is doing well in school but was persuaded by friends at an esteemed institution to join a gang that they had formed.
The young man was enticed by the many material things he could achieve above and beyond what his parents could offer by teaming up with the school gangsters.
After putting up some resistance, the young man subsequently buckled under increased peer pressure and relented.
“He reluctantly joined because his father had already advised him that any one of my children who get into trouble with the police cannot remain in this house,” Gregory-Lewis said.
As the only male child along with three sisters in his family, Andrew was mindful that his parents had some wonderful plans for him.
“This path he went on was an antithesis. It had nothing to do with all the plans he knew that his parents had for him. He himself had ambitions of what he wanted to become. Notwithstanding that he allowed himself to be drawn in.”
Without giving away the full story, the author indicates that, at the end, ‘grace and mercy’ was extended to the young man despite his wayward activities. He got a second chance to turn his life around and focus on the things that could help to chart a fulfilling life for him.
Gregory-Lewis said the book provides a teaching moment of what not to do when faced with certain challenges, noting that her earnest desire is for Jamaica to focus on saving our children.
A lesson she wishes to leave with her young readers is that “as you try to find yourself just remember that actions have consequences”.
The book is available for sale on Amazon.