Tag Archives: Education

“Our big problem is that we abolished corporal punishment but did not put anything else in its place. Our children are, therefore, operating in an environment where there is, in effect, no consequence for bad behaviour. That has resulted in a general breakdown of discipline, nationwide. “Discipline is much more …

Maybe it is just a Trini thing but have you noticed how, even though the persons in charge are very often leaders in their respective professional fields, amateur sports run by amateurs always seem to be run, well, amateurishly? These amateur professionals—or are they professional amateurs?—are placed there to run …

National Security Minister Major Edmund Dillon will only encourage increased violence in schools if he reintroduces corporal punishment, according to the local civic group, Working Women for Social Progress. The following is the press release issued today by the Working Women: We accept that it may become necessary to remove …

Yes, our children, too, are committing monstrous crimes, astonishing us by claiming the adult power to molest, maim and murder. Adulthood has lost its mystique as age—that great marker of maturity separating children from big men and women—is revealed as a hoax. They know now that nothing superior separates us …

From my very first year as a columnist in 2002, I criticised our dysfunctional national security system and took up then, by their names, the cases of several murder victims. I have consistently continued to do so. Even then, murder was already being carried out with impunity. There was no …

So much dust has been kicked up since Rachael Sukhdeo’s facebook posting that visibility has been reduced to almost nil on her chilling allegations of domestic violence and the refusal of the police to act on her complaints. Now displacing her voice are loud reverberations about media censorship, conflicts between …

The Arima North Secondary school dedicated its annual 5K walkathon to violence and bullying. Principal Karena Ramdeen-Steele said that there were 167 participants to the event, which was held on Friday 12 February 2016 under the banner of: “Stamp out School Violence and Bullying.” Ramdeen-Steele claimed too that her school’s …

Three years ago, at a workshop on women’s health, a street-smart 23-year-old from along the East West Corridor asked me, “If a man — in my mouth, I could get pregnant?” It will shock many to know that while in popular discourse about sexuality, young people are stereotyped as sexually …

Universities are generally considered to be hallowed halls, a place where minds both young and mature go to explore and investigate new reams and upper limits of thinking, while removing barriers and boundaries, all with the acceptance that the end will see human kind better for all the expectations that …

Trinidad and Tobago’s first Prime Minister Eric Williams said the country’s future lies in our children’s bookbags. If so, then pray. In the “Trinidad & Tobago Social Studies for Primary School: Standard 2” book, author Kevin Jeanville listed crime shows and letters to the editor among the country’s viable solutions …

Corporal punishment is clearly the most popular method of punishing children who misbehave. While there are other forms of punishing youngsters such as “being grounded” or denied certain privileges, a beating is the most immediate, swift and effective way to put a stop to undesirable behaviour. And, even though the …

Mr Live Wire contemplates life if parents followed UN conventions and nations preferred not to spare the rod. (Scene: Somewhere in Trinidad and Tobago.) After rising tensions between Big Momma and her offspring, who was recognised as a sovereign nation by the United Nations on her day of birth, Big …