We continue to be plagued with issues of violence and general disrespect in our school community – and in the general communities. The recent flurry of activity, which has sought to involve all Education stakeholders, in efforts to eliminate or at the very least reduce school violence, is welcomed. Too often, however, we appear to forget the individual and far-reaching impact of our individual words and actions, which are reflected in the failings of communities.
The Editorial of 28th September, 2018, entitled ‘Mending Our Communities Through Self-Reflection’, is being republished in the hope that it will serve to highlight the important role we all play, as individuals, in forming the communities we live and work in – including the school environment. The content remains very relevant today.
Mending Our Communities Through Self-Reflection
We too often hear the cry that Anguilla is lost and that our young people in particular are lost. The question is repeatedly asked – “When will we wake up and do something about it?” When an incident that highlights some social ill occurs, the airwaves and social media are inundated with persons asking – “Will people wake up now?” I often wonder who exactly do we expect to wake up and do something about all the ills in our society that many of us can readily identify. Clearly the efforts of “the establishment” are not considered to be enough. It might, therefore, just be that the answer lies elsewhere.
Calypso is a form of social commentary which is often intended to effectively convey social happenings to those with the capacity to make changes. Very often the intent is to bring the plight of the ‘common man’ to the attention of those who wield political power. Sometimes, however, a calypso is designed to speak to every member of a community and ask them to be part of the needed social change.
The Mighty Springer won the Calypso crown this year singing such a song. The Calypso, titled “Introspection”, which was penned by Mr. Bernard Wattley, is an appeal to the masses to examine and reflect on their character and behaviour. In the context of Anguilla this song is both timely and relevant. Anguillians are a confident and outspoken people. This confidence and outspokenness often lead to us expressing opinions that have not been properly thought out, and which fail to take into consideration our own individual shortcomings. Introspection is asking us to examine ourselves before we pass judgement on others. The lyrics, which are set out below, speak for themselves.
Introspection
“Stop pointing fingers, thinking you are better than the one you are trying to take down
Look in the mirror and ask the father to put a smile where now there is a frown
There is no reason to destroy your brother to advance one’s personal agenda
There’s room for all to succeed, provided we curb our greed
There’s simply no need for you to judge me
We all have our history
Before you accuse me check yourself out carefully
For everyone of us have something in our past that we would not want to be put on blast
So instead of us being so self-righteous my advice to us is to refocus
Let’s do everything that we can to help out our fellow man
That’s my admonition.
Instead of accusation, let us each and everyone practice introspection.“
Sound advice is being offered through a popular form of social commentary – calypso. Will we take heed?
As a community we are failing to recognise that, for many of us, our behaviours, attitudes, conversations and actions all help to shape our communities. Superficial responses and momentary interest in resolving a societal ill do not serve as a meaningful and sustainable solution. Calls for retribution, and the unwarranted assignment of blame, will not solve our societal ills. It just might be that a hard look at ourselves is the answer to our mounting problems. “Instead of us being so self-righteous, my advice to us is to refocus. Let’s do everything that we can to help out our fellow man”.
Instead of relying on politicians and government institutions to fix what is broken in our communities, let’s fix ourselves and in so doing fix our communities.
Hopefully students, parents, teachers and school administrators will spend more time fixing themselves than attributing blame to others for the ills plaguing our schools. We must all seek to be a part of the solution rather than the problem.
