Over the past weeks, heartbreaking news reports have announced the sudden demise of too many of the nation’s children. Road accidents, house fires, gun attacks, illnesses, and other untimely events have claimed scores of young lives, leaving families and communities in unspeakable grief.
When the lives of the youngest members of any society are snuffed out with such shocking frequency and in some of the most bizarre kinds of incidents, that nation must stop and take stock. Things are not normal.
But Jamaica is a different kind of place. We seem to have normalised a level of brutality that would not be acceptable even among the most uncivilised warring tribes.
The nation’s political directorate seems content with the well-curated social media narrative that all is well in the land. Even with the most heinous murders, barefaced robberies, and unbelievable levels of corruption, those who are seated in the high seats of leadership continue on their merry trek away from righteousness with no sign of recourse.
The private sector, which at one time was vocal and vociferous in demanding better governance, has joined large segments of the church in a strange kind of silence, which signals secret consent.
It is troubling that there are persons who profess to be Christians in political, private, and public sector leadership in this season while the nation is cruising to its ultimate destruction.
A glimmer of hope flashed for a moment when the affable Dr. Dana Morris Dixon was named Minister of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information. She, a self-confessed Christian, would be familiar with the stories of Daniel, Joseph, and Esther from her upbringing in Sunday school. She would understand how God can use His people to influence the direction of governments through righteous intervention.
It is in this context that the Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM) penned a letter to the new minister, pointing out that her elevation in this season is a divine appointment, which comes at a time in the nation’s education system, where our youth are nurtured outside of their homes and are in urgent need of Godly direction.
The ACCM restated concerns that have been expressed on a number of occasions in the public domain. These concerns were placed squarely and formally on Dr. Dixon’s desk as she settled into her new Heroes Circle office.
The issue of crime and violence has seeped into the corridors of our schools, reflecting the move away from the moral underpinnings in homes, our institutions of learning, and the wider society.
Subtle efforts to diminish the role of the Christian church in education have already negatively impacted the learning experience and made room for influences from criminals and gangs in the hallowed halls of learning.
The records show that the church, in the schools it established, as well as in others in which it engaged, ensured the presence of solid moral guidelines to support students’ and administrators’ engagement within the institutions and in the wider society.
The proposals to curtail devotion in schools need an urgent rethink. While there may be some need to manage the timing of devotions, corporate worship of the True and Living God sets the tone of the school day, reinforces righteous standards, and strengthens the moral foundations throughout the institutions.
As a Christian elevated to leadership, the minister should encourage her team to meet with the church and the school administrators to arrive at an appropriate position on this matter.
The ACCM and other Christian organisations have continued to be particularly concerned about the implementation of aspects of the Samoa Agreement, which the government signed in November last year. The agreement demands that Comprehensive Reproductive Health programmes and their offshoot (Comprehensive Sex Education) are taught in our schools.
These programmes include issues of gender fluidity and abortion rights. These matters are still illegal under the Jamaican Constitution and, so, our children should not be taught that these illegal choices are ready options.
Furthermore, society, through various opinion polls, has consistently opposed the decriminalisation of buggery and any advance towards normalising homosexual relationships and abortion on demand.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that a declaratory note was attached to Jamaica’s signature in Samoa, which states that the island will not impose any programme which goes against the laws of the land. It cannot be too much to expect that our new minister, who understands that righteousness exalts a nation, will ensure that our sacred laws are not breached, especially in our schools.
If Dr. Dixon’s spiritual eyes are open, she should also see the need to put a stop order on the overreach of the government in its efforts to ban spanking in homes. The former Minister of Education had insinuated that the government had not reached a decision on this matter, despite signing an agreement more than three years ago to institute same. In addition, the chief education officer, up to recently, continues to advocate to rid parents of this tried, tested, and proven disciplinary measure.
The laws of Jamaica and the United Nations Rights of the Child Convention determine that the disciplining of children is within the remit of their parents or official guardians. While Jamaicans do not condone abuse in any shape or form, as a people, we are well aware that bad behaviour must not go unpunished and spanking is a most effective corrective mechanism of last resort.
The government, through its management of the massive school system, will never be able to replace the individual attention that parents give to their children and, therefore, should not usurp their constitutional role as caregivers, providers, and disciplinarians.
Evidence from nations where spanking is banned in homes show that students who are not disciplined are left to extreme, bad behaviour, which sometimes results in deadly outcomes.
The ACCM again restated its consistent calls for the establishment of a unit that is dedicated to strengthening the family structure. In her new capacity, Dr. Dixon is encouraged to move with alacrity to establish this unit to ensure that righteous principles are taught from the homes and at the basic levels of the education system. Parents can be provided with critical support and information on how to discipline their children appropriately, even before spanking becomes necessary.
While Dr. Dixon has yet to respond to the ACCM missive, it is unclear if she will lend her powerful position and voice to the calls for Jamaica to relent and repent or if she will fall in line with those who are determined to remain on the road to reproach.
We continue to pray.
