Jones: Blame the user

MINISTER of Education Ronald Jones does not believe that the plan to lift the ban on cellphones in the nation’s schools should be scrapped because of the recent videos of students fighting in the nation’s schools.

The videos have been circulated on various social media platforms and have received huge public outcry.

Speaking to the media recently, and against the backdrop of suggestions cellphones should be blamed for what is being seen, he said persons should not blame the tool, but the person using the tool. He said while in today’s world everyone is essentially a videographer, they must be viewed as a participant of the event taking place, not just an observer.

According to Jones: “We have to get down to the root cause of the ... behaviour among some of our young people. Is it further magnified by persons showing disrespect for the law?” he asked, adding that a lot of it is a compendium of activity impacting the nation’s children.

“We have gun violence in the society, and previous to that we had knife and sword violence. Look at it, children learn what they see, what they are exposed to. Children are affected by every challenge and negative behaviours within the society. They tend to act out a lot of it in their own lives and behaviours. In this and other societies, there is a lot of anger. Where is that anger coming from?” he queried.

Furthermore, he lamented that many of these children exhibiting deviant behaviour are victims of abuse. The Education Minister also expressed concern that some persons appear to be giving up on these young people.

“Listen to the commentary of persons in social media and some of the electronic newspapers. Rather than empathise and sympathise, you are getting calls for person to ‘jail all of them, lock all of them up’. And I have not seen or heard of a positive active solution which can bring some of our young people from the edge on which they stand.”

Minister Jones said he prefers to take a more positive approach in trying to reach those who may be exposed and prone to that level of behaviour. (JH)