For the second consecutive week, schoolchildren and their delinquent behaviour have been the focus of our online readers.
This time, they were responding to a story carried in the WEEKEND NATION where bad behaviour among schoolchildren prompted calls by commuters for stepped-up police presence in the Princess Alice Bus Terminal.
They complained of students deliberately missing their buses and going into the bathrooms to gamble, smoke and “use cuss words”.
Some readers on NATIONNews.com did not only say this was unacceptable, but added that a system must be in place to deal with this tardy behaviour. However, according to one reader who compared the standards to those among students in Britain, all was not lost. Readers were passionate about the issue and vented:
Kenneth King: It is unacceptable that schoolchildren are on the streets after 9 a.m. when prayers for the day are in session. This is 2011 and by now there should have been a system in place to stamp out this kind of behaviour. I thought that special officers were put in place long ago to deal with this.
If adults send a strong message to these latecomers, then they will either adhere to the rules or face severe punishment for their actions. If we do not get certain programmes in place, we will eventually have a crisis on our hands.
The Ministry of Education must find a solution before it’s too late.
Mel Mapp: In my day as a young person you showed respect not only to the elders, but also to your peers. A few years back, while travelling from Bathsheba on public transportation, I was astounded and ashamed to hear the swear words coming from one or two of the young people in school uniforms.
I asked them to refrain from their smutty language and to show respect to others on the bus. Fortunately, it stopped after my blunt remarks.
C. Holder: The public has to be involved but they are afraid of the children and their parents. Back in the day, we respected our parents and our teachers because they commanded that respect. They set the example and instilled positive values.
Today some parents want to be at the bashment with their children, some teachers do not understand their role and some principals lack that vital stamp of leadership and authority. And many so-called elders aid and abet through silence.
We need stern measures like boot camps and paramilitary programmes for the minority of delinquent. Take them out of the schools, where they disrupt the majority of positive children who are achieving good things.
They are the ones who deserve the resources and the recognition.
Ron Colbourne: As a regular visitor to Barbados I feel that I must point out that the vast majority of schoolchildren (various age groups) that I have seen, on many, many occasions, are indeed the most well-behaved bunch of kids and a credit to their school.
If you could see the appalling behaviour of schoolchildren in Britain, on buses and in shops, you would soon realise that it is a very tiny percentage that is responsible. Barbados has standards that are sadly lacking here in Britain. You should be proud of your children.
