An autobiography, entitled “A Goodly Heritage,” written by Elma Seymour, wife of A.J. Seymour, renowned Guyanese writer, details some customs and standards that epitomises the normal standards and behaviour in  Guyanese society in the past, and  quoting and underlining some passages from this enlightening chronicle, would 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.”

“It was a blessing for these children when the Schools’ Medical Service came into being and the school was visited regularly by a team of nurses headed by Dr. C.C. Nicholson,  Schools Medical Officer.  Their teeth were also examined for caries and their general health assessed.”

“On the advice and concern mainly of the writer (who was a school teacher), a breakfast centre was started mainly for malnourished children.  But before the centre was built by the Education Department, Miss Gertie Wood, social worker, who carried on a soup kitchen in the Kitty market, was asked to supply the needy and malnourished children with meals from a donation solicited from the late Mr. R.G. Humphrey……..I remember him saying, ‘If the children are hungry I must help to feed them’.  Mr. Cyril Farnum, Chairman of the Kitty Local Authority, also contributed from Council funds towards the meals.  A cheque was sent every month to pay for the meals supplied.

“The soup kitchen was built on the school’s compound and headed by Miss Edna French, the Domestic Science Teacher, and the children were able to enjoy a hot meal cooked right there on the premises and served to the children between the hours of 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m.

“The children who could afford it paid a penny a day, and the deserving others were given free meals as the School Feeding Programme was subsidised by the Education Department.

“The primary schools system in those days was administered by a governing body for primary schools, and priests and ministers of the various denominational schools were appointed to monitor the administration of the schools.  For example, at Carmel R.C., while I was there, Fr. McCaffrey was the priest who visited the school once or twice per month to sign the payroll and the attendance register of teachers, look into any problem facing the headteacher, and sign in the logbook the date of his visit and any remarks he might have to make concerning the discipline of pupils or staff.”

This was during the first PPP Government, when C.V. Nunes was the Minister of Education.

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 school in Berbice had been summoned by a magistrate to attend court.

During the case in which she was required to testify she had said that after school had been dismissed at 1430 hours one day, 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 was particularly concerned that educational institutions are supposed to be protective environments for both parents and teachers, but often members of the public just march into schools and assault both teachers and students at will.

She expressed her concern over the growing indiscipline in some students, whose behaviour is spiralling 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 torpitude of the children under their care, and if inculcating false values into children is an instance of abuse, then many adults are guilty of both abuse and the misdemeanour that the children under their care commit.

For instance, many children are encouraged to covet and steal  possessions by the adults in their lives.

The headmistress thinks that a disciplined environment should be established in a structured way, where children with severe disciplinary problems should be sent to obtain their education under paramilitary conditions, which may serve to restore their sense of social responsibility.

Teachers are constrained from punishing children because of widespread concerns about abuse.  It is the general perception that discipline has to be left completely to the parents as teachers are allowed no latitude, despite the most provoking behaviour from trouble-making students, who even walk with weapons and threaten other students over trifling incidents.
The general consensus is that this spiralling phenomenon of violence in schools needs urgent attention because, despite the numerous interventions and initiatives driven by government to educate and empower the youths in the country, such as the President’s Youth Choice Initiative, among others, there is still much anti-social behaviour plaguing the society, a great deal of which could be attributed to the drug scourge.
Last Monday, the Ministry of Local Government and the UNDP launched an innovative Community Development Programme and Houses for Justice Facilities which, hopefully, will effect some radical behavioural changes in  young people in the various target communities across the country.