Boy I tell ya, Bajans is something else in trute hear? Oh yes! A lot o’ we know ’bout a lot o’ the wrong things dat does happen ’bout here but rather than ruffle somebody’s feathers, rather than show up somebody, rather than talk bout it, rather than expose it, we would prefer tuh hide um up, sweep it under the carpet and hope dat it would gently go away.
Although it would be eating we out like a cancer, our philosophy is, wha’ ya ain’t know ain’t gine kill ya or if it ain’t broke, doan fix it.
On the other hand, if by chance it is brought tuh light, we love to point fingers and to kill anybody who is brave enough to say anything ’bout it.
Now, why shoot the messenger? Why knock the media? Why try tuh penalize the people who brave enough tuh do anything ’bout the wrongs in this hypocritical society. Oh! so it is all right fuh two young students tuh be in a classroom doing the dog while somebody record the whole thing and post it pon Facebook fuh the whole world tuh see; but it is wrong fuh the media tuh take out a tiny piece o’ the same video and publish it so dat all o’ we who doan know nutten ’bout nuh Facebook could see wha’ really going on bout here? We want a scapegoat.
Wunna doan think dat all o’ dem students involved know right from wrong? Wunna think dat this is something new? Children know far more than we think or want tuh think. Look, half o’ the time dem does be laughing at we so-call adults who think we know something – and ya know why? Well, it is because we doan realize dat because we didn’t have much o’ anything when we did growing up, we does make sure dat dem have it now.
We does be out there day after day, wukking like Joe Heap mare from sunup till sundown tuh make sure dat we children get the gear dat evahbody wearing, so duh won’t feel deprived.
Instead of teaching them good values and morals, we does give dem the modern gadgets dat we doan know one france ’bout and the children taking dem and tweeting, texting, emailing, facebooking and wha’evah else-ing and showing duh friends who does turn around and show dem friends while we weselves doan even know how tuh unlock the very gadgets.
When the Sunday morning come, instead o’ getting dem in church like we did when we was growing up, we done going so dem doan go. Dem does hear we knocking the church, the church people and the very thing dat help tuh form and fashion all o’ we into the people we are today.
Now, I ain’t saying dat in this particular situation the parents o’ these two daredevils are responsible fuh their actions because sometimes as the mother of the girl said in the interview, she keep talking tuh the girl all the time and I read dat the girl is now at Summerville.
But honestly though, wunna think these things only happening now? These school people like tuh dare one another and duh does take bets, all kinds o’ foolishness. Remember when the very NATION newspaper was talking’ bout the young girls having anal sex?
Remember when duh was talking ’bout the young boys doing things fuh money? Remember the young girls who used tuh dress fuh school, leaving home wid extra clothes and changing in the public bathrooms in town? And wha’ bout when the schoolgirls used tuh lift up duh skirts and sit down pon the boys in the buses and do as duh like?
By the way, how come we hearing dat the girl get send tuh Summerville? Wha’ happen tuh the boy? He ain’t tuh get punish too? Huh! But let me say tuh the Jennifer Walker and all like she: stop burying wunna heads in the sand. If she was yuh daughter or he was wunna son or any family tuh wunna, ya’all would still picket THE NATION newspaper? I doan think so. I think ya’all need tuh stop and listen tuh some o’ the stories ’bout these students from some o’ the teachers in these schools. Some o’ these so-called children dat wunna bigging up.
Try and stop bashing and trashing the media, dem only doing what dem trained tuh do: investigate, uncover, reveal, expose, print and publish. Wunna should be glad dat people like photographer Charles Grant and journalists like Al Gilkes ain’t around nuh more. I tell ya: a lot more things would be exposed.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.
