Keep an eye on the school children
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – HAVE you ever had one of those experiences where – for some inexcusable reason – you cut school to gallivant through town, go window shopping or just roam the streets, possibly creating some sort of mischief?
Take a trip down ‘memory lane’ and try to recall one such incident when you bobbed and weaved through every nook and cranny, because you knew if you were caught your ‘goose would be cooked’. Because the bottom line is if Mrs. George caught you, she would not only give you a public scolding but she would also contact your mother, who would add to the embarrassment you have already experienced, and the rod of correction and you would become one.
Just as these thoughts bounced off the corners of your mind, you feel a tug on your ear and your hearing is immediately filled with your neighbour’s voice, “What are you doing out of school?”
After all, it was only 11:00 in the morning.
Unable to provide a plausible reason, you shudder as the thought of the fate which awaits you upon arrival at home…Licks! And for a moment, the accompanying pain felt as if there were some measure of permanence to the anguish.
Those were the days; the days when it took a village to raise a child.
In recent times however, I have observed children of school age, better yet, bedecked in school uniform, walking leisurely through Basseterre during hours when they are supposed to be sitting under tutorage.
And it is always surprising to see the lack of action taken by some adults whom these children would walk pass. Not even a question to find out why they are not in school or a string of stern words admonishing them to return to school immediately or suffer the consequences.
This behaviour suggests – and I could be wrong – that these adults do not care and figure “It is not my child so why should I care? Why Miss Fran’ don’t look for she child? I wonder if she knows her child is walking through town during school hours.”
“It takes a village to raise a child” must become to us more than an adage. It must return as a way of life; one where your neighbour’s child is your responsibility and your child becomes the responsibility of your neighbour. Of course, each must take his/her responsibility to raise his/her child seriously, not shirking in any aspect.
The 2011/2012 school term commences in a matter of days and when that day comes, thousands of students will occupy hundreds of classrooms across this Federation. And there will be those who would venture to break the rules and slip away from the schools’ compound and find some other ways of occupying their time.
Kudos to those who are in the habit of keeping these students on their toes and inline by notifying their parents or guardians of any deviant behaviour, as well as sternly admonishing them to do better.
And for those who do not, and who subliminally subscribe to turning a blind eye, consider the fact that you are your brother’s keeper and it takes a village to raise a child.
