Restoring Guyana National Service may help curb juvenile delinquency

AN autobiography, entitled “A Goodly Heritage,” written by Elma Seymour, wife of A.J. Seymour, renowned Guyanese writer, details some customs and standards that epitomise the normal standards and behaviour in the Guyanese society in times past, and this editorial would, in quoting some passages from this enlightening chronicle, provide some insights into the behavioural norms of those times.  (In the absence of their mother) ”Aunt Car was truly a second mother to us, and papa left many of our problems in her hands.  She was always helpful and kind.  Besides, we all had to be very polite, well-mannered, and obedient; and no loose-talking or (loose) jesting was allowed in our home.”
“Aunt Car was always one for encouraging the members of the family, especially those who were married and had started to raise a family, to establish the “Family Altar,” where prayers and Bible reading were said daily every morning.”
The products of this system were decent, well-behaved law-abiding adults, who believed in the basic principles of honour, respect for their fellow humans, and compassion for the less fortunate in society.
The system  involved training in decorum, deportment, and good manners, with the requisite and necessary inputs to achieving equitable intellectual, social and physical development, which started from the home, and which was strategically supported by a strong network involving the education system and the community.
The headmistress of a primary school in Berbice had been summoned by a magistrate to attend court. This headmistress, from childhood, was an exemplary and studious child, who always aspired to, and achieved, academic heights, and who had received lucrative offers of employment in the entrepreneurial world, but who loved to teach and refused to abandon her profession of choice.  She balanced her family life with her profession and, together with her husband, had brought up high-achieving, well-behaved children.
However, she related a story to this newspaper that underscored how far down the ladder we have descended in social behaviour from the days when Mrs. Elma Seymour taught school.
She said that after school had been dismissed at 14:30 hours she was conducting a staff meeting in a room adjacent to where some students were copying their homework, when she heard a commotion.
Upon investigation, she discovered that a parent had entered the classroom and slapped a child with whom her child had a dispute.
The headmistress contends that, irrespective of any consideration, no adult has a right to accost and/or assault any child in or out of the school premises.  She says that if a parent has a complaint there is a procedure in place to address such issues, which has to be adhered to at all costs, because the consequences are very detrimental to both children, and the morale and morals of the entire school population.
She is particularly concerned that education institutions are supposed to be protected environments for both parents and teachers, but often members of the public just march into schools and assault both teachers and students.
She expressed her concern over the growing indiscipline among some students whose behaviour is spiraling alarmingly out of control, with severe negative impact on security and the morale of teachers and the students who are genuinely trying to achieve goals within what is quickly becoming widespread lawlessness in school populations.
She contends that instead of a practice where families “pray together” in order to “stay together”, they instead drink together and fight together, and she thinks that the only solution to this rapid decay in the moral fabric of society is that a holistic approach be taken, as in the days of yore, where there is total involvement of societal sectors to upgrade and enhance social behavioural norms.
Adults in families are often to be blamed for the moral turpitude of the children under their care, and if inculcating false values in children is an instance of abuse, then many adults are guilty of both abuse and the misdemeanors that the children under their care commit.
For instance, many children are encouraged to covet and steal the possessions of others by the adults in their lives.
One woman, who for some inexplicable reason has taken a dislike to a neighbour, encourages the neighbourhood children to enter the woman’s yard during her absence and steal and destroy her property.  She also constantly abuses and threatens, and has even physically assaulted the woman, who largely ignores her, then encourages her grandchildren to support her lies when she makes false allegations against the woman to the police.
The headmistress thinks that the Guyana National Service should be re-established in a more structured way, where children with severe discipline problems should be sent to obtain their education under paramilitary conditions, which may serve to restore their sense of social responsibility
However, she says teachers are constrained from punishing children because of widespread concerns about abuse, and quoted a recent incident where a very dedicated teacher gave an erring student a few lashes and was severely persecuted by students, their parents, and officialdom.  According to her, discipline has to be left completely to the parents as teachers are allowed no latitude, despite the most provoking behaviour from troublemaking students, who even walk with weapons and threaten other students over trifling incidents.
Parents, on the other hand, can withhold privileges within the home environment, but without a simultaneous programme where the school is allowed some leeway, even with monitoring from officials from the Education Department, the problems of society will continue to deteriorate into more violence…..and more violence…..and more violence.

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