Woe to the land

That’s govern’d by a child.

— Shakespeare, Richard III, 11, 3

And woe to the parent who’s ruled by a child. The Bible says that a little child shall lead them. It also says, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. But Richard III, warns of the dangers of being governed by a child.

Well, he certainly knew what he was talking about, but if he had any idea of what nowadays children would get up to, he might have said even stronger words.

A child is schooled in order to develop, learn, pass on what was grasped to the next generation. What’s unfortunate is an unschooled child, for even though it’s said that ignorance is bliss, it’s also dangerous. “Ignorance is the curse of God, knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to Heaven,” said Henry II.

And then there are those who are home-schooled, but that is not for everybody. “Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits,” wrote the Bard. Youth who are schooled at home may not develop the social skills and the ability to interact with their peers. They may become selfish and self-absorbed.

It’s therefore best to send the youth to school, but that also has its pitfalls, as we’ll find out, right after these responses to ‘Having children’.

Hi Teerob,

I have three children, and love them dearly. But I must admit that my heart does lean towards them in different ways. My first daughter is strong and I have no fear that she will make it in this tough world. My second daughter is fragile and fearful of many things, so I always have to reassure her about the positive aspects of life.

To tell the truth, I worry more about my son, as he seems to lack the drive and ambition that a male should have. Did I mollycoddle him too much? Maybe. Do I love them equally? Of course I do, but my feelings for them are different as I know their strengths and weaknesses.

Michelle

Hi Tony,

Karma is a bitch and it applies also to parents and children. I have seen many examples of children giving their parents a hard time during their teenage years (mine included) and then those kids grow up and have children of their own, and their kids become teenagers and give them the same hard time.

As for watching a birth and seeing the ‘favourite playground’ being demolished, the reconstruction is never the same. The material is not as strong and the structure is not as compact, but the important thing is, it remains the favourite playground.

Antonio

Toronto, Canada

My schooldays were special to me, and even now I bask in the memories of those early years when I drank from the font of knowledge. Even from a very young age I would ask questions and challenge teachers as I did in kindergarten when the teacher wrote, “The sheep’s in the meadow.” Even from age six I knew that the plural of sheep is sheep, with no S attached. But what I didn’t grasp was the concept of the apostrophe, so ‘sheep is,’ becomes sheep’s.

What I also recall even to this day, was the teacher doubting my ability to write stories and thought that my parents wrote them for me. It was only after I sat down before her and wrote them that she believed me. Those experiences last forever.

I then moved on to St Aloysius Primary where we had 100 per cent passes in Common Entrance (now GSAT) every year, thanks to teachers like Mrs Gray and Mrs Sutherland who were not afraid to bring out the strap on us boys. We learned not only academics, but about life itself, honesty, discipline, integrity.

I was spirited, rambunctious, and I’m on record as being the only boy to have jumped off the balcony down to the schoolyard below. The Lord protects drunkards and children.

Then it was on to KC, where my life was defined, and I was honed into the person that I now am. A more rounded education I could not ask for as a young schooler. I played almost every sport, learned the classics, read almost everything and felt pride of place.

I say all this to highlight the fact that we identified with our school and were proud of our alma mater. Just recently a brilliant, prominent doctor told me how lost he felt when he left Wolmer’s Boys School, as his whole life was defined there. Can students nowadays say that about their schools? Do students have a fierce loyalty and love for that institution where they spent the formative years of their lives?

That’s why when people write spurious articles about schools it creates such anguish and pain that the writer would never understand. A person with loyalty to nothing will never understand the concept of loyalty.

Back then, we used to have a few transfers from other schools, as boys would migrate from the country, or some would leave other high schools that didn’t offer the subjects that they wanted to pursue. Not so nowadays.

Mainly because of sports, many schoolers just flit from school to school in the hope of advancing their sporting careers. This has reached alarming proportions and is now the subject of a great debate. It has got so huge that some schools are even referred to as FCs (Football Clubs).

Some schools recruit players from all over, while others have students beating down their gates to get in. Whichever way you cut it, many Manning Cup teams are made up of a mixture of boys who migrated from other schools, with very few, if any, starting from first form and moving up the grades.

One football team, different lads, pretty much like a mini United Nations. “But wait, nuh last year KC captain playing for Wolmer’s now… a wha dis fahder?”

I’m not here to pontificate on the merits or demerits of such a practice. But what I will say is, those students cannot have the love or loyalty that a boy who went from first to sixth form has.

After starting out at one school, he transfers to another, then ends up in sixth form at a third.

“So what’s your school?”

“Oh, Camperdown, STGC, KC, JC.” And we wonder why some schoolers are the way they are nowadays? They have allegiance to nothing, love for nothing, respect for nothing except what’s in it for them.

Gone are the days of loyalty, respect and honour. Now, a boy can play for one school this year and play against that school the following year when the transfer window is open, very much like the football clubs overseas.

St Richards Primary has won the Junior Schools Challenge Quiz and hearty congratulations to them. Being a graduate of a primary school, I tend to always root for them. Not to say that I have anything against prep schools, as both my children attended those, but my heart empathises with primary schools.

These schools have all the odds stacked against them, with overcrowded classrooms, children from the lower socio-economic sector, many are located in inner-city areas where life is hard, and yet they persevere and succeed. Windward Road Primary, where few uptowners even knew of, has won that Schools Challenge Quiz three years in a row. St Richards Primary is always in the mix, beaten last year in the finals, but triumphing this year. There are others.

Many parents are now transferring their children from prep to primary schools as the latter excell. Not all, mind you, as problems still abound, but many are outdoing the prep schools that also have their great challenges. Expenses are high, collection of fees is down, and teachers have to be paid. They struggle, with some closing down. For the first time I’m hearing prestigious prep schools advertising for students. In the past, mothers had to register their children before they were even born.

If I had a choice, I would have sent my son to a primary school, and my daughter to a prep school as primary schools are tougher. Speaking of girls, there is no weaker sex, as some of these female schoolers are downright scary. We all know what horrible vulgarity used to take place on the mini-buses and also in the Transport Centre.

Recently, while buying jelly coconuts, two young female schoolers took me on, first asking for lunch money, then for coconuts. What stunned me though, was when one asked me, “Yu married, Sar; Yu wife is a white lady, Sar; She brown, Sar?” Now where that came from, I have no idea. Even the vendor admonished them.

I miss my schooldays, from kindergarten to primary school, to glorious days at Kingston College. But do these modern schoolers have this same loyalty and love?

More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: Alia Atkinson has done us more than proud with her exploits in the pool and also by her deportment and humility. She’s the first black woman to have a world record in swimming and the first Jamaican to win gold. That’s no easy feat.

Even now I remember my days on the KC swimming squad with coach Mr John Lopez. It’s the most difficult sport I have ever done. It’s extremely hard work, and for Alia to have accomplished what she did, plus doing so well on the circuit is extraordinary. She has my nod for Sportswoman of the Year for sure.

Hey, Christmas is Thursday, so have a blessed, holy and peaceful holiday season, my friends. Merry Christmas.