OUTSIDE THE PULPIT: Indiscipline in schools a worry

Article by REV. ERRINGTON MASSIAH

Think not that I come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly I say to you till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. – Matthew 5: 17 and 18

IT IS VERY CLEAR that there is a serious problem in our schools – at both at primary and secondary levels – when it comes to discipline.

Yet some politicians are telling us that there is a plan to remove corporal punishment from the statute books in Barbados when dealing with children under the age of 18 years. It is clear to many of us that there is a serious problem. Those who have ears to hear let them hear.

Principal of Coleridge & Parry School, Vincent Fergusson, recently highlighted the problem of indiscipline at the school’s speech day.

He lamented that too many students refused to heed the instructions of their teachers and even the principal and the deputy principal.

“This is a worrying trend and I now read to you the top referrals at the Edna Nicholls Centre – rude and disrespectful behaviour to persons in authority, threatening teachers and persons in authority and fighting with teachers.”

Fergusson must be congratulated for his honesty and frank report letting the public know what is happening in our schools. He did not give the impression that the Angel Gabriel lives and operates in the school.

I hope that other principals will follow Fergusson’s example and be frank with the public when it comes to what is happening in their schools.

It is a very serious situation and it will get worse when the methods of discipline are removed.

We must not forget that some of those students will be hoping to join the disciplined organisations such as the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Prison Service and will take their bad habits with them.

We must not forget that the school is the institution that should be preparing the children for the workplace and life.

That is why we need the support and cooperation of the parents. This is the time when all hands must be on deck to save our young people.