Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/8392/-1/133/
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All Things Educational - Where Is The Outrage
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I began writing this column back in 2008. My goal was to write a weekly column focusing on children, parents, teaching, learning, and schools…in essence, ‘all things educational’. While I didn’t succeed in publishing an article every week, I did cover quite a few topics including behavior management and discipline, reading instruction, critical thinking, classroom management, school reform, children’s mental health (depression, ADHD), dyslexia, learning disabilities, bullying, autism, children and grief, drug and alcohol use and more.
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Peter Wolinksy
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I have also offered my opinion on what I feel are the best ways to educate children, and I have tried to offer constructive, cost-effective suggestions for improving Anguilla’s schools. I have tried to stay away from politics and editorial comments.
I am now nearing the end of my work in Anguilla, and will be returning to the States at the end of this school year. In part because this will be one of my last Anguillian articles, and in part because of my strong feelings about this topic, I am going to use this week’s column to make an editorial statement, and ask for your help.
On May 18th, the Ministry of Education held an important public consultation on the Education Bill 2010. This was an opportunity for the general public to hear about proposed changes to the Bill, and offer their suggestions and comments. The meeting was held at the Teachers' Resource Centre. The room was completely filled, with people spilling out into the hallways. While there were many new aspects to the Bill, it was clear that the majority of people present were there to express their concerns about the proposed abolition of corporal punishment in schools. It was clear early on that the overwhelming majority of people in the auditorium, as well as those who phoned in, were in full support of continuing the practice of corporal punishment. Indeed, only two people spoke in favor of the ban. There wasn’t really much of a discussion. Most who spoke expressed outrage at the thought that the Government would succumb to outside influences and ban corporal punishment. The arguments in favor of continuing this practice included: it is the word of God (‘spare the rod’); it is the only way to ultimately control children and maintain discipline in the schools; it worked for us, so it will work for our children.
Let’s contrast last week's meeting with two other important meetings that took place this year. Six weeks ago the Education Department held a primary school forum, same time and same place as the above mentioned meeting. The focus was on literacy in the primary schools. At that meeting, we heard of the grim state of literacy in the schools, with data suggesting that as many as 60 percent of students at grade six are reading below grade level. We heard the Permanent Secretary describe the situation as a crisis. Yet when I looked around the room, there were no more than 20 people at this gathering, many of whom were teachers or administrators. I heard no passionate or angry cries from the public about the poor reading scores. I know for a fact that many, if not most, of the discipline problems in school are directly related to students’ inability to do grade level work. Where was the outrage?
In January, a meeting was held in Anguilla to discuss the findings of a comprehensive study on child sexual abuse in the Eastern Caribbean, including Anguilla. The findings were alarming. An article in The Anguillian noted that the findings were discomforting, and an increasing social problem. The authors of the report wrote of “an alarming picture of a social problem that is escalating, has increasingly severe consequences for Caribbean societies, has multiple layers, and is perpetuated not only by adults who carry out harmful sexual practices with children but also by non-abusing adults through complicity, silence, denial and failure to take appropriate action.” One area of abuse that was highlighted in the report is ‘transactional sexual abuse’ in which sex with a minor is exchanged for money, goods, or favours. Just last week, two different adults told me of situations such as this occurring outside of Campus A! Where is the public outrage?
Please help me understand. If you were at the meeting on May 18th, what are your priorities? Is corporal punishment more important than literacy? Is it more important than the sexual safety of Anguilla’s children?
Peter Wolinsky is the Educational Psychologist. You can respond to this article by emailing him at Peter.Wolinsky@gov.ai.