The deck seems to be stacked against Minister of Education Ronald Jones who we have previously suggested is unsuited for the job, parents and all the other stakeholders as we attempt to arrest the counter-culture which has taken root in our society. Yesterday afternoon we listened with interest to VOB moderator Mark Forde passionately expressing his disgust at the practice which has become fashionable of wearing trousers across the hips to expose the crack of the ass, if female and the undergarments, if male.
Like several other maladies which are currently afflicting our society there is one common thread, Barbadians are reluctant to act until there is irrefutable evidence to support the act under suspicion. Barbadians yearn always to appear to be doing the right thing. Even if the video above already demonstrates a concrete indication that the Jamaican ghetto culture has past the point of no return started to permeate the minds and souls of our young minds, yet we sit and do business as usual.
Prime Minister Thompson, note that removing the school children from the mini-buses is not enough, we need to go further. We need to create boot camps, we need for the Broadcasting Authority to wake up and enforce the standards, we need to exact standards from our radio stations, we need to exact standards from the public transportation sector, we need to exact standards from our calypsonians, we need to exact standards from our politicians, we need to exact standards, standards and more standards.
The uniform of the school in the video is well known so why bother to finger the school.
We need to fight back, NOW!
Yardbroom & Adrian
It seems to me that jack bowman and mongoose and the others who may very well be one and the same.
They are all fixtures at Barbados Free Press (BFP) who have been very strident in their condemnation of BU and their calls for BFP to remove BU from its side bar.
To now have to crawl back to the very blog they have been condemning speaks volumes.
Despite their juvenille attempt at trying to goad bloggers by their stupid comments about grammar,bloggers should know that it is persons like negroman and hopi etc they are really getting at.
BFP is almost at the comatose stage and it is obvious no one is reading Bowman et al’s condemnation of negroman,hopi and BU that they make over at the BFP,so they have come over here seeking to be disruptive,knowing how lenient David can be.
I deliberately ignore them,and just refuse to read any of thier postings,except when it is incorporated in someone else’s post.
Everytime I see them and Piedpiper posting here,I know that BU is doing something right.
@AH: I won’t be spellbound by the misspelling. We adults are not children and can choose which childish paths to take. I would teach my child to spell correctly and show that the misspelling can create the laughable, sometimes in a manner than offend, other times in a manner that should be taken as pure mirth. I’m laughing off the loss of electricity this bright morning. I will just rest for a spell.
Indeed BFP is hurting badly. Every now and then they post some article that jumpstarts interest in their blog, albeit temporary. What is consistent for them leads to inconsistent link popularity results. Often times third last of the ten bajan related blogs I track. Last week they moved to number one as result of an article with little bajan content. Similar was acheived at the expense of Rihanna. Contrast with BU who has alternated in the top 5 of ten sites 95% of the time with Bajan content. Their goose have been cooked a long time ago.
Most of you guys are old and out of touch. You simply don’t understand that the behaviour shown is not just innocent children wukkin up ; It is the manifestation of a bashment/dancehall/ghetto/ZR culture that can take over a person’s entire life; their body and mind.
A culture which glorifies guns and ganja; scorns police, laws and lawmakers; denigrates “informers”; promotes misogynation and the denigration of women; glorifies lewd and crude behaviour and casual and promiscuous sex.
Simply put it is undesirable. Nothing is wrong with wining and even wukkin up but the crude shit which passes for dancing in the ghetto culture and which has made its way into calypso and soca is defintely not to be condoned.
How many of the apologists would be content to see their 12 or 13 year old daughter getting on so? how many of you would say it’s quite alright dear nothing wrong with expressing yourself?
If you would expect your daughters to act with more class and decorum than the behaviour exhibited in the video why is it acceptable from other persons daughters?
@Saying Nuttin: ” Nothing is wrong with wining and even wukkin up but the crude shit which passes for dancing in the ghetto culture and which has made its way into calypso and soca is defintely not to be condoned” (That’s slicing the cake and saying your piece is fine but the rest can’t be eaten. You really think that children wukkin up is ok? I’m not prudish but I know of what I would disapprove as behaviour from a child. Yours, older, wiser and very much in touch.)
I take your point and i would clarify that I meant wukkin up (in a reasonable manner) and wining is ok for adults really. You are right in that children can dance but its really not acceptable for children to be gyrating in the sexual way which is “wukkin up” today.
@David or anyone: Could you post the lyrics of Whitney Houston’s song, The Greatest Love, and let us reflect on that? Impossible to do from my cell phone.
John
What sort of justice is that?
Making Peter pay for Paul.
What we saw on the video were children in a classroom as they are suppose to be. The low lives among them began to engage in very unseemly behavior. The decent ones sat at their desks peacefully as they are supposed to.
Now you are telling me that when punishment is to be dish out all must be treated the same way, and that sounds reasonable to you.
Therefore what you saying to children, do as you like, because it does matter not if you are good or bad you will all be treated the same way.
If my daughter was one the children who sat peacefully at her desk and did not take part in the foolishness but still got punished, believe me all hell would then break loose, but this time from me.
On a related note Peter Simmons argues that Gov’t intervention into the area of parental responsibility e.g providing subsidized Summer camps for children is a further extension of the Gov’t Welfare state and an intrusion into the family unit. He ends by hoping that the recipients of this “freeness” will become “exemplary citizens”.
How do you folks see this benefit or not?
http://www.nationnews.com/comments/guestcolumnists/peter-simmons-July-19-copy-for-web
Carson C. Cadogan // July 19, 2009 at 4:02 pm
John
What sort of justice is that?
Making Peter pay for Paul.
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Carson
That’s how it worked in my day?
I’ll bet if your daughter was present and took no part and punishment was being dished out that she would want to be with her buddies.
She would probably ask you to keep out of it.
That’s just how the dynamic of the class system worked at school in my day …… and I think there is something positive to be said for it although it seems all wrong.
… it is kind of like one for all and all for one.
It is an honour thing.
This is not a situation you snitch on friends … even though the same friends can get you in serious trouble.
As horrible and loose as the exhibition appears these are still just children letting off steam and doing what they see adults do.
However, they need to get the message that the behaviour is unacceptable, ……. but there is no need for overkill.
Your daughter, if she was in the group, will survive any just punishment very well.
You would only need to get involved if the authorities were to go overboard and administer some extreme punishment.
I believe a parent’s job here should be to show solidarity with the authorities in administering discipline and to keep that discipline just and their child honest from here on.
@Sargeant
“He ends by hoping that the recipients of this “freeness” will become “exemplary citizens”. Very limited intervention here.
Freeness is a total misnomer: it is paid for but not directly by the recipients: Joe and Jane taxpayer are paying. It’s a terrible misconception and one reason why so-called ‘free’ goods and services can cause much resentment.
Camps can be good, depending on purpise and duration (but like day care, if it is simply a way to get ‘baby sitting’ then those who fear parental abrogation of responsibility have more of a case). Sending a child to camp for soccer, science, art, and a range of ‘vocational’ things that can be concentrated upon and not clash with the school day/curriculum can be very beneficial. One needs to look at purpose and quality. ‘Jack No-Real-Qualification’ giving junk tuition over a period of several weeks is getting money for old rope. Parents may well be glad to pay the $$ because they would otherwise have to find child care. Don’t throw out the baby and the bath water. Need to look carefully.
A day without power now needs to be readjusted. Oh, I love progress!
LIB
Agree that camps can be useful, even if the childrens’ days are filled with recreational activity instead of vocational pursuits. The writer waxes a bit nostalgic when he harkens back to his childhood but time marches on. It would be interesting for him to focus on the difficulty that working parents face today vs his childhood and adolescent years when only one parent was apt to be working.
The point about freeness is not lost, however many people don’t realise that they are really paying for what is supposed to be “free” and when you ask them to pay upfront they complain. “Freeness” has become a way of life, even our leaders of tomorrow– UWI students- who receive free education took to the streets and protested when the University requested fees for some activities.
@Sargeant
I honestly took most of the piece as twaddle (not often used these days) and unrealistic, because there was (as is also often the case) no real discussion of realistic alternatives, and dealing with consequences (‘idle hands…’).
We know that as far as politics goes, ‘freeness’ is a stick and carrot,: who gives can then say others take away and vice versa, etc.. There are often groups of people who tend to be net recipients and those who are net payers. If that relationship does not change or seems way out of kilter therein lies a problem of serious marginalisation that politics may not be able to deal with. (It can also be played with other cards, as we know too well, eg, ‘foreigners get it for free’, and the ‘spongers’ kind of accusations that can often be levelled at certain groups.)
Would you believe these dirty looking males have somebody girl child as a woman. Males get away with many un-natural things simply because the females have lower their standards.
John
“I’ll bet if your daughter was present and took no part and punishment was being dished out that she would want to be with her buddies.”
Then you really don’t know my daughter. My daughter would not be involved in anything like that. All of our girls are not bad.
Carson
My point is it was open for the girls apparently sitting down and not taking part to get up and walk out.
Don’t get caught on the video in the first place.
This is what you would expect your daughter to do, and no doubt she would have done it.
But by choosing to be present those girls sitting down are as much a part of the spectacle as any of the others who chose to be both present and “dance”.
…. and once discipline is being administered, it should be administered to all present in the room.
I think those present would have it no other way, they are buddies after all,
…. and those administering the discipline, officials and parents, need to ensure no exceptions are made, hence my point about solidarity between the teachers and the parents.
…. but the problem is that it would surprise none of us if two weeks down the line after Kadooment day there isn’t footage of the persons who are supposed to administer discipline appearing on Spring Garden in their skimpy costumes demonstrating to those children what is acceptable and what is not.
That is just what we have managed to build as a society.
We have invsted millions creating our culture.
So to cut a long story short, I really do not expect any discipline to be administered.
… and yup, our country is in real trouble.
…. and Carson,
Did you know that the Closed Brethren whose children I went to school with, have their own school, and have had their own school since the 1990’s?
Isn’t that a clear a statement about what has been happening in our schools that they would have gone to the expense to create a separate school?
There is a time and place for everything. I don’t fault the students for having a good time, enjoying themselves; I just don’t thing the venue chosen was the appropriate place. As the saying goes, “all work and no play/fun make Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl.” (laugh)
In my school days, we as kids were also frown upon for doing certain things in the classroom. Two things that come to mind are: writing on the blackboard in the absence of the teacher without permission, running around the classroom.
Looking back at such things, in my mind they were minuscule, but were seen as bad behavior. Furthermore to compare with what took place in the video. But then again, my school days were yesteryear and this is yesterday & today.
John
the Closed Brethren want to be separated from other groups. They do not want their children exposed to other points of view. The opening of their own school is no indictment on state schools.
Anonymous // July 20, 2009 at 9:10 am
John
the Closed Brethren want to be separated from other groups. They do not want their children exposed to other points of view. The opening of their own school is no indictment on state schools.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
… except that in my day at school, Closed Brethren children rubbed shoulders with me and other students in the Government school system as they had done long before.
So you mean all of a sudden after generations of mixing, they suddenly decide not to let their children mix?
Don’t buy that.
I put it down to either the change to coed or introduction of computers but it wouldn’t surprise me if it is to do with the drop in discipline in schools.
I understand that Major Hugh Barker was involved in the setting up of the school.
I have worked on numerous projects in which Closed Brethren supplied goods and services and have not come across this feeling of wanting to be separate.
Rather I have enjoyed the interaction.
However I would agree that anyone who adheres too closely to any religion in Barbados does portray the separateness of which you speak from mainstream Barbados.
@ John, why do you think they are called “Closed Brethren”? They choose the times and places to integrate. Can a non-member go to that a school?
Themis // July 20, 2009 at 10:16 am
@ John, why do you think they are called “Closed Brethren”? They choose the times and places to integrate. Can a non-member go to that a school?
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To an extent, we all choose the place and time to integrate. I have never been to a Calypso Tent or to Spring Garden but that is my choice.
However, Closed, I agree indicates separateness, and as you indicate it is unlikely that a non-member will go to that school but I do not know.
Brethren on the other hand indicates fellowship with others, the opposite.
But the point is that the school did not always exist, it is of modern vintage.
If their children once integrated freely at Government schools in Barbados and now don’t, something must have changed in the past 20 years,
….. either in the Closed Brethren
….. or in the Government Schools,
…. or both.
I remember three differences at school.
Firstly, they did not attend prayers ….. doubt any Moslem or Hindu children do.
Secondly, they did not eat with us. This we figured was strange but it never interfered with the interaction we had.
There was a third way in which they differed.
They did not go into sixth form.
I got the impression they became apprentices with businesses run by their families or other Brethren families and learned how to earn their keep in the world and then started families.
In all other respects they were integrated into the school they attended.
I had one in Upper Arts Sixth with me in the mid 70’s. Nice fellow too. Everyone wondered what he was doing there. Don’t know what has become of him.
These young girls are just having fun. Not in the classical way, but have you ever heard of anyone condemning Swan Lake? It is the most sensuous ballet piece but it somehow is acceptable to all, I wonder why? Let these young girls have their fun and show their talents too. Can you move like that? I wish I could.
@waiting impatiently
Thats an interesting handle, and it’s even more so after reading you views in favour of this video. Google exploited black teens and tell us if such or something similar is what led to your handle.
Sparrow sang something about not have white meat yet. lol! Do they have some sparrows in here? maybe of a different hue?
These girls need to be told that their so called little fun can lead to exploitation later.
I say again, Barbados has one of the highest rates of chiId AIDS in the deveIoped worId. And no, those chiIdren were not aII born with it, did not aII contract the disease in utero, they’ve been infected by maIe aduIts, often reIatives. PaedophiIes frequentIy use the excuse that “the chiId wanted sex”. From this video you couId understand why a paedophiIe might reach that concIusion. RN, I agree the whoIe thing is creepy. one couId argue that aII dancing is a form of sexuaI invitation, swan Iake incIuded but it’s not ok for chiIdren to perform an erotic dance when they are not abIe to protect themseIves from the consequences. These are young human beings at schooI, where you Iearn to grow up, stiII in a pIace in Iife when they need to be protected by aduIts, too young to fend for themseIves in this worId. Do we think chiId Iabour is ok? No. RightIy, there are Iaws against it. I’m not taIking about heIping out, I mean expecting a chiId to fend for itseIf in an aduIt worId. That is what happens when a human chiId is sexuaIised too earIy. It does not have the physcaI, emotionaI or mentaI maturity to fend for itseIf in an aduIt worId, or deaI with the consequences, eg chiIdbirth. There are many exampIes, India for instance, where young girIs are married off when 12 or 13 or even younger, get pregnant and die in chiIdbirth because their bodies just cannot cope, not being fuIIy deveIoped. Just because a chiId may show earIy signs of physicaI maturity, having a period or starting a beard, does not mean that chiId is ready to be a mother, or work in a bank, own a gun or support a famiIy.
It must be said! to their credit; all but one had the decency to take their shoes off while standing on the desk. Except one!
We have to work on her.
I am no fan of Trevor Prescod but since when does a visit to a Gov’t Dept. to inquire about Gov’t support of a day camp constitute “trespassing”?
Looks like the Gov’t is using the Police to harass their political opponents. If so they are embarking on a dangerous journey
I currently go to a secondary school, I don’t see anything wrong w/ this video, well a lot worse happens on a day-to-day basis…P.S i don’t go to this school featured in this video
Oh Gimme A Break Wanna Need TO GO And Find SOmething Else TO Talk And Complain About , Cause The More Wanna Complain The More They Gunna DO IT SO Just Breeze! And Wha Happen To This Video? Girl Wukin Up? Alright!! Big Deal!!! Wanna GOtta Realize We Only Have One Life To Live . Look At How Many Innocents Dies Each Day , Not Only In Barbados But Around The Word.. Try And Live Up Wanna Selves ! Wake Up And Smell The Coffee! 2011 .
I always spent my half an hour to read this blog’s posts every day along with a mug of coffee.
Reblogged this on Focus Barbados and commented:
WHERE ARE BAJANS RELUCTANT TO ACT WHEN THEIR FUTURE, THE CHILDREN, ARE AT RISK?