EDITORIAL: Support our children
Academics have long been the focus of many Barbadians and the excellence that has been continuously emerging from institutions of learning is testament to the hard work and dedication of our forefathers, educators and progressive governments. However, we should also acknowledge that education does not end at academics.
Children are now exposed to more external forces through travel and media, to name a few, and their knowledge now encompasses a wide range of subjects and experiences over a relatively short period of time, through the use of rapidly updating technologies that many of those from previous generations were not exposed to. These modern facilities have given rise to a new culture out of which have arisen persisting questions of whether cell phone use at school should be allowed to continue, whether corporal punishment should remain in these institutions and how to deal with a student population that is increasingly taking in information that is not always relevant to the classroom, but can affect the education process.
This is a sign that adults, especially those in charge, should be in a position to harness this knowledge to ensure that children become positive products of society. If children are left to decipher and translate the movie that might have violent and sexual content, for example, without proper adult supervision, then there is no guarantee that what the children translate to their friends and the rest of society would be positive. In recent times in Barbados, there have been a lot of debate about how children seem to be transferring what they have seen on television, the Internet or social media, or heard on the radio to others that they interact with. However, the question remains, are the media solely responsible for what they are exhibiting to those who come into contact with them?
Parents must get involved
In the news recently, a few incidents of alleged bullying came to light and many expressed anger and sadness at the outcome. There were solutions offered about the type of punishment that should be meted out to those who cause hurt to others and what should have been done to prevent the incident from ending the way that it did. There are some who have said that teachers should be vigilant in cases like these and that the police should be on top of these types of situations at all times. However, while these arguments are valid, one sure way to prevent occurrences such as these is to have parental support, especially in the schools, from the beginning.
Long working hours along with several other children and responsibilities have long been touted as reasons for not paying enough attention to the problems that their children have to face or even their accomplishments, but this is no longer a satisfactory excuse for what teachers and society are left to deal with without the right amount of parental support. Involvement includes listening to what their children have to say, as well as to those who are in authority over them, and discussing problems with those who can help if these problems become too much to handle on their own. We must show support for our children if we want them to succeed.