I WANT TO SHARE an experience I had last week on a 3:15 ABC Highway bus travelling from Speightstown to Oistins. I generally try where possible to avoid catching the bus during at that time since it is normally filled with schoolchildren.
Before the bus came to a halt at the bus stop, I could hear music playing and loud speaking. From my vantage point I could also see children sitting on each other, which is a usual occurrence.
I got in the bus, made my way to the middle and stood in the aisle by the row of seats immediately after the “back” door. The bus hadn’t driven 50 metres and I had had enough with the cussing and rowdy behaviour. I struggled to hold my tongue but I couldn’t ignore the conduct for long and had to say something. Also, you could see that other adults were uncomfortable and didn’t like the behaviour.
In front of me were four students sitting on one seat; a girl sitting on another girl and a girl sitting on a senior boy. The girls were third formers from School A and the boy a fifth former from School B.
I first addressed the girls about swearing every other word as well as the way one was sitting cocked back on the boy and the way he was holding and dragging her about. Honestly, she looked like a first former because of how small she was.
I spoke to the fifth former and asked him if he had a sister and he said no. I asked if he had female cousins who were young and he said yes. I asked if he would encourage them to behave the way these girls were and he said no.
As soon as I stated to speak to them, the cussing from the girls stopped, the junior girl got up and the fifth former became very shy – maybe because some of the other male students in the bus started to laugh and mock him because I spoke to him. He responded to the guys by cussing them. There were two students who had Bluetooth speaker systems and played lewd dancehall music along the journey.
A senior girl from School A boarded the bus by the Gymnasium and sat in the second-last seat at the back, right behind me. The first thing she did was respond to a girl from School C closer to the front, saying, “Cah yuh ****”. I immediately turned and spoke to her about her language, and she was shocked when I did. She got up and went to the girl and while talking to her, a senior boy from School B asked her something. She responded: “You believe he want to show me that video again? I ain’t want to see that again.” The guy responded loudly: “I want to get you . . .” and she laughed and said: “Not from that.”
Children will be children and my generation had our share of behavioural issues. What I find is different with this generation is the lack of respect for adults. The behaviour of these students isn’t a reflection of their schools, but in many cases a reflection of the home.
During my 17 years of working with young people, I have learnt that the majority craves discipline, correction and guidance. This may seem strange to some but over and over I have proven this to be true.
Many adults, though they desire to, refuse to speak to students who display bad behaviour in public because they fear being “washed off in cuss”. We have a responsibility to these students to correct them where we see them going wrong, as our voice may be the only one of correction they hear outside of school.
The village no longer raises the child and we see where that has led us. What message do you think we send to our schoolchildren when we ignore or turn a blind eye to their negative behaviour? Is it disapproval or acceptance?
Be wise, be careful, use good judgement and if the opportunity is there, speak to the student. Offer guidance. There may be a price to pay for speaking, but the country will pay a greater price if we all stay silent.
• Corey Worrell, a former Commonwealth youth ambassador, is director of C2J Foundation Inc., a project-based NGO focusing on social development. Email: [email protected]
