In Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, the issue of antisocial and violent behaviour in schools is an increasing source of concern and a critical challenge. Given the seriousness of the problem, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the Change from Within programme, an intervention to address violence and anti-social behaviours within Jamaican schools, and one whose methodology supports leadership development amongst all school stakeholders. The role of leadership in shaping school culture is widely acknowledged.

The question was posed recently by a group of teachers in the secon­dary schools: "Why are today's teenagers so difficult to cope with? Why can't they confonn as we did in our time?" This is a question, I am sure, that teachers all over the country are asking. But in order to begin to answer this question we have first to recognize that children today live and interact in a societty that is totally different from the one in which we were raised.