As a Caymanian parent, I have two boys who have gone through our government schools.
One graduated from John Gray High School and has been very successful, recently graduating with a master’s degree. This particular child was well-mannered and in the top 10 percent of his class, however, my main angst at the time was with the unfairness with which matters were treated; the victim didn’t have a voice.
The other boy went through Red Bay Primary School, and surprisingly he was bullied by his teacher as well as his peers! He graduated from primary school in despair. He no longer wanted to attend school because he thought that was the way school was supposed to be. Despite that mistreatment, he was “top boy” from the day he entered until the day he graduated.
I decided afterwards to make a report of this issue to someone in the education department, and went up the chain of command only for “the buck” to be passed on to one person after another. The only person I did not speak with was the Minister of Education. I quickly realized there was no recourse for me as a parent.
The current situation is obviously no top secret. Who is to blame?
Raising and schooling a child is a concerted effort and involves many people.
First: Me, the parent. I can only teach my child what I know or what I have been taught. There are many parents who need a mentor themselves to understand how to raise a child.
Second: The teacher at school. The title, “teacher,” says it all. We are all teachers – and we all teach by example. Both sides need the support and guidance of the education department.
Third: Children, who learn from each other. If their home life is not stable, children are more likely to listen or follow their peers than their parent(s).
We have no one to blame for our school problems but ourselves — every parent and every Caymanian in our education system.
We need to stop pointing the finger, calling others “racists” and blaming “imported” children. The truth is we are no better or no different. We just love to blame others. As a Caymanian parent, I ask the question, “Who within our government is taking responsibility for our mess in our schools?” It didn’t start today. It has been allowed to grow all these years … Everything has a gestation period. Everyone here does affect the matrix of our society; however, we do need to make our “inner and outer” voices match — not say one thing and live another.
Stand up and demand more from our government and from ourselves. I am not asking for a debate here or more finger-pointing, but merely for introspection and action on how to resolve the obvious “elephant” in Cayman’s own living room!
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