Desmond HenryTREASURE BEACH:
THOSE OF us who witnessed that disgraceful performance by the Ministry of Education in the Munro College affair, should understand that what we saw was just the tip of an iceberg, in a saga of deteriorating behaviour in schools.
I predict much worse is yet to come, if far better is not done.
Visit any school and talk to any teacher, and you will learn that conduct among students in Jamaican schools is at an all time low, and getting worse. Teachers are terrified and are either unsure, or don't know what to do. Homes from which the children come are no better off, as parents are ill-equipped with the character skills and training abilities.
When you combine this with the behavioural patterns learned from the wider society, you find that children are arriving with attitudes branded into them long before they enter through the first door. The fact is that our children are portraits of a society that is rude, crude and lewd. They ape these characteristics without any concept whatever of the long-term harm it will do to them. It is generally felt that today's children are teaching themselves social attitudes, picked up from elsewhere and endorsed by the wider society. The 'Don' effect, for example, sends a clear message to inner-city youths that to be winner you must become a Don. In effect an entirely new twist on the phrase 'Don Won.'
I have written before, and will continue to do so until something is done, about the need for a surprise examination-day of all school bags entering classes on that day, to be followed by unannounced periodic examinations. Having done that, I have proposed the mounting of a mobile exhibition of all the tools, gadgets and implements found in the bags across the entire island, so as to create a shock-effect among those whose heads are still buried in the sand. I have even gone further and suggested that this extraordinary display of student weaponry be called 'A bazaar of the bizarre' for all to see and take note. In which case the Munro ganja episode will compare like mere sticks of lollipops.
There can be no question that major contributing factors to the errant conduct among our young is attributable to one, or all of the following:
1. Video games and television shows with vicious characters and uncivil conduct.
2. Youthful mimicking of such patterns.
3. Absence of strong penalties, on screen or in society.
4. Neurological defects in kids born to drug users.
5. Inability of parents who can't and don't know how to train their children.
6. Absence of strong teacher/parent training programmes at all social levels.
There are others of course, but central to all of these is the continuing practice of poor public communication skills by the agencies of the State. There is a horrendous mistaken belief that everyone interprets and absorbs information in precisely the same fashion, everytime.
I believe it is high time for the government to summon an islandwide conference to examine the entire question of conduct in schools, along with the matters of punishment, training and readjustments. What used to be solved 20 years ago with a mere fist fight, is no longer applicable. Our children are being short-changed mainly because the system is hare-brained.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Nowadays, it is easier to make a killing than to make a living.
Desmond Henry is a marketing strategist based in Treasurer Beach, St. Elizabeth.
