Johnson: Parents have failed

PARENTS AND THE CHURCH will have to get involved if Barbadians are to become a lot more productive workers.This is the view of chairman of the Productivity Council, Anthony Johnson. The economist told reporters on Thursday that he would not blame young people for negative attitudes to work which translated into low productivity.“As a generation of parents, we have failed miserably,” he declared. “That is where it all begins. Not with the children.“If each man and woman, father and mother in a house, commands respect in that house and we set responsibilities and duties and so on – in other words, live as a true parent should live – then I think the youngsters will grow up with those values and then have something to implement [which they] will fall to.” According to Johnson, Barbadians had to “get back to basics and look at the home, look at the church, look at the school and all the other social organisations”.“We have to revamp what they stand for and we have to apply principles,” he added.Johnson spoke against the backdrop of the opening of a two-day productivity conference at Hilton Barbados.The conference is expected to come up with a productivity model and action plans for Barbados and other Caribbean countries.Johnson said it usually took a crisis for Barbadians to have a more positive attitude towards productivity.“It is a question of attitudes and people are very complacent until something very untoward happens, when you have to sit back and  reflect,” he said.“I think that we’ve gone through sufficient trauma that people are now waking up to the idea that something drastic has to be done.” (TY)