education is a weapon
The people in this photo are the pinnacle of cool. If you are a 17 year old boy, this is what you want to be doing, this is the outfit you want, this is where you want to be. No?
Bermuda’s mandatory military service for all men is anachronistic, cruel, and mindbogglingly supported by the pro-indepence, anti-colonial government, and much of the public. The argument goes that our aimless youth need direction, especially the boys (and especially the reckless black youts) , and the Bermuda Regiment gives them that.
At the same time, about 1/2 the kids in the public school system are not graduating. While the current trend appears to be blaming the teachers, and the school board, and the parents, and the kids, and the government, and Johnny Barnes, the fact is there is no motivation for these kids to achieve in school.
Why bother, when you can drop out and work construction, earning $1,000 a week or much much more? Telling teenaged boys to think about the future, 20 years down the road has been a losing battle since mothers started having babies. Teenagers can’t conceptualize “20 years” when they’ve only got memories of about twelve.
So...how are these two connected?
I say, any boy that maintains an B average in high school, or a C average in college or university, is exempt from regiment. This is a real incentive for the here and now. 20 years from now, these kids will be trying to figure out ways to motivate their kids to graduate if we don’t do something now.
So that’s my idea - now, how do we motivate the girls?
what every teen bie wants to wear?
Saturday, May 5, 2007
