In a society such as ours that has long had single mothers fathering their children, and grandmothers filling in either because, one, their daughters breed faster than rabbits, two, the shiftless 'baby fathers' have moved on to new conquests and three, the young women must spend unforgivable hours in menial work here or abroad to keep body and soul together and their children in a viable economic environment, I am utterly amazed that many of us are still questioning the 'qualification' of our women once they have been earmarked for professional leadership roles.

I make mention of this due to last week's Daily Observer report that parents of students attending St George's College have protested against the pending appointment of a female principal because, the way they view it, the boys attending the school need male presence and authority.

A psychologist could easily make the early assessment that what the parents are really complaining about are their own in-house shortcomings.

In a 'normal' setting with mother and father at home, I can hardly see anyone of those parents making the complaint that their son would need male presence or influence at the school. It appears to me therefore that it could be mothers with defective, or more likely, absent male mates who are making this complaint.

In this regard, I can empathise with the complaint because at that stage, it is reflective of our societal dysfunction which sees poor or no male influence in the home. And, of course, to address the other aspect of it, even women in Jamaica are uncomfortable with strong, capable women in positions of leadership.

I was brought up to believe that the first duty of the male in the home is to fund the household. The second duty is to be a warm and caring companion to his woman. Last, but by no means least, the male must be a father to the children, that is, he must be teacher, mentor, disciplinarian and, in lighter moments, he must be the circus clown in the home.

Jamaican women are the first to say, 'bway pickney hard fi raise'. There is a whole lot of truth in that, and it is multiplied tenfold in the absence of in-house male influence. To me, one of the most pressing problems facing the young male child is the tendency of the youngster to 'hide' himself in a group.

By the very nature of these groups, individual self-fulfillment is discouraged but the boy fools himself into believing that he 'belongs', he is a part of something important and he imagines that others outside of it are dying to gain entrance. Over time he loses his 'self' as he transfers his all to the oftentimes, destructive behaviour of the gang.

It is known that our male-only schools are in serious trouble. As I see it, between the mid-1960s and the present times we seemed to have lost seeing the home as the first and final teacher and arbiter in most matters relating to the raising of a child. Somehow my own generation failed miserably in utilising all that was taught to us and in this, we compounded the matter by also failing to pass it on to the next generation.

Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez (2nd left) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the World Cup Group C football match between Argentina and Serbia and Montenegro, at the Gelsenkirchen stadium, Germany on Friday. (Photo: AP)

The economic woes of the poorest among us caught up with us and as we headed to 'farrin', ostensibly to keep the family unit economically viable, not only did we lose the very important physical presence of the one last parent (the mother) in the home, we lost most of the Jamaican values of home and community spirit and replaced these with a pilgrimage to and a worship of, the almighty dollar.

The pervasive influence of a rich and highly developed country, the US, on a poor country like ours mired in destructive political leadership and with a people who saw no noble set of objectives to reach, was hardly ever considered to be something worth bellyaching over.
Without these noble social development goals as a stepping stone to the attainment of economic growth and development, we signed a contract of self-entrapment and in this we hankered only for the trivial tangibles of what we could see, hear, feel, touch and copulate with.

In an atmosphere where the media-big DJ and donmanship became role models, and cutting corners to get ahead in what then became a fast-track existence, all roads led to hype, bling and dealing only with the here-and-now life. Our young boys growing up now have been blooded in all of this at the same time as their fathers continue to abandon their responsibilities in the home.

I could never accept that the parents of boys attending George's do not all want their boys to develop into responsible, economically viable young men. I can hardly see, however, that insisting that the school employs a male principal would create guarantees that there would be more of a male 'presence' in the lives of these boys.

Notwithstanding the crude mix of problems in our society and the manifestation of these in our schools, to me, the duty of a school principal must be school growth and development, presentation of the required curriculum and the maintenance of high standards and discipline. If the person chosen just so happens to be a woman, then so be it.

Too many of our schools have, over the last 30 years, morphed into day care centres for those who we want out of our lives for five hours per day, each weekday. As parents continue to abdicate their responsibilities and, more importantly, as more parents enter the 'mother-only' designation, there is bound to be confusion and the playing of the blame game.

St George's College needs what the society needs - strong and effective leadership with a human face. Parents of boys attending that school must begin to think for themselves and not allow themselves to be caught up in the behaviour of the herd.
It must be remembered that all the herd can guarantee is loud bellowing and an excess of droppings.

Argentina my pick for World Cup 2006

I must confess that the only time I watch football is during the telecasts of the World Cup finals every four years. In 1998, I became caught up in our homegrown efforts, but once Simoes left and the local administrators dished dirt to Carl Brown, almost as if he were there just to be disrespected, I lost total interest in Jamaican football.

In watching the most recent matches, my point of reference is that Brazilian team in 1982 whose dream was shattered by an unknown on the Italy team named Paolo Rossi. It is still my belief that after Pele in the 1960s, that 1982 Brazilian side came closest to what I call football magic.

My heart wants to be with the Trinidadian side, but sheer pragmatism will not allow me to do this. I watched the Brazilians play Croatia and right down to the last minute of the game I was on tenterhooks; not because the standard of play was anything to write about but because I was hoping to see even one minute of Brazilian magic.

It is my belief that the Brazilians will not make it this time. Equador looks very impressive but, as the light gets brighter and the stage grows more tense and fit only for the bigger fish, that side will get swallowed up. Spain has also been playing excellent football.
Although the Germans scraped by the Poles with the only goal scored in the match, the side showed that it had the patience and planned doggedness to win. The Germans may not have the magic, but rugged determination is an integral part of their arsenal.

What can the Argentinians do wrong? It seems, nothing.
They insist on pressing forward and, each time they do so a goal seems to be in the making. I am no sports writer, and the respective jargon eludes me easily. That aside, although I expect the Brazilians to lift their game, based on what I have seen so far, they will need the biggest crane in the world to remain for long among the top 16.
I will put my money on Argentina. What do you say?

Hurricane readiness?

Last Thursday, as I drove past the gully at Waterloo Road near to Peppers I saw the perennial debris of bits of washed up trees hitched to what appears to be the underside of the metal railings.

I am not aware that there was any heavy rain in the last week which could have caused the build-up, therefore it appears as if it has been there for some extended time. That very spot represented the death of a woman and children either sometime in the 1970s or 1980s. At that time, there were no railings and the water had overflowed the gully's banks during a period of heavy rains.

It appears that the lady miscalculated the strength of the flow and the rest is a sad history.

If we are really serious about preparing ourselves for what may turn out to be a very busy hurricane season, we need to look about the small matter of gully clearance. Maybe in this, the rails at the Waterloo gully will become cleared of the debris. If it is not done and the gully becomes flooded, the path of least resistance for water flow will be over the bridge and onto the roadway.
Action, please.

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