#BT Column – Independence is integrity

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Julia Hanschell

I heard on the radio this week, Bajans answering the question: “What Independence means to me”.

Independence on a personal level, and as a country, is a choice. Once we choose, we have to accept that constancy and never-ending responsibility comes with this.

As teachers, whether we wish to or not, whether we consider we ‘are not paid to do this’, or not, one thing is for certain – children need constant guidance over the choices they make, because choices have consequences.

While we should never thrust our religious, social or political value systems on students, part of our job is to help them to accept that sometimes you have to respectfully ‘agree to disagree’.

Healthy debate and differing opinions have their role to play in helping students DECIDE about the choices they will make throughout their lives as these pertain to developing, and sustaining, their own value system.

A clip from the movie, “The Emperor’s Club”, showed an exceptional teacher seeking a father’s insight into how to instill noble values in a wayward and unhappy boy. The father replied, “That’s not your job to teach my son values. You are employed to teach him writing and reading. Teaching values is my job. I expect him to have my values.”

Needless to say, the young man who emerged was as narcissistic as his father with nothing genuine to offer the world and without a value system that benefited anyone but himself.

I believe that in spite of the myriad of human backgrounds and experiences, there are a mere handful of value systems that benefit humanity in general. This is where the ethos of any school, and thereby its focus and LEADERSHIP, are significant.

A typical example is when a parent tells his child, ‘Don’t hit first, but if you are hit, hit back and end it.’ Well, that does not ‘end it’, does it? At school there are consequences; at home there is admiration. In fact, a parent told me recently, “I am disappointed in your response to my son’s actions. He did what I told him to do.”

I truly believe History and Literature should be core subjects that every student must study for the entirety of their school life. Learning from the past and the intentions, choices, experiences and outcomes of others, forces students to CONSIDER and apply choices in their own lives because they have evaluated consequences.

They learn how to IDENTIFY with the mistakes and pitfalls of others, and an internal paradigm shift can place them on the road to personal independence. Inherent conscious decisions impact the adults they wish to become through investing in positive, rather than negative, choices.

I accept we live in different times. The ‘Baby Boomers’ are retiring and those we taught are now teaching with the ethos we instilled in them. Yet, in many cases, this is at odds with modern parenting.

We are simply not ‘batting on the same team’ anymore. Parents and teachers are not applauding the same behaviour or castigating the same choices.

Caught in the middle of this inconsistency is Generation Z, who are existing on the cusp of old and new worlds. Challenging and confusing on an academic level, this is compounded by value systems of school and home often being at odds with each other.

I believe that this COVID pandemic is recalibrating our lives, but I am still waiting for the entitlement and reward with ‘stuff’ to shift. Perhaps this is the REAL pandemic. In this island our children are hugely underexposed and are sheltered from, and oblivious to, what damage is happening globally.

I keep waiting for the pendulum to swing, for our children to realise that independence has to be passionately desired, consciously planned, and mindfully seized. Then it has to be fervently protected through personal integrity, in which there is no diversion from the path of right choices. It is time to seek values that are positive, that are selfless, rather than selfish.

So, what does Barbados’ Independence mean to me? It means that the statute of limitations has expired on wrong values being acceptable and right values being disparaged. It’s time to stand up for what is right for this country and its children. It’s time voices of integrity speak up and, more importantly, ACT.

It’s time for country over self.

It’s time for positive parenting (and do not be fooled that this is easy or that we do not know what this looks like).

It’s time to celebrate the HEROES who are ordinary people, doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways with honorable values.

It’s time to knock the pedestals of self-serving values down. It’s time to raise generations with TRUTH and moral fortitude.

It’s time to be our brothers’ keepers; to speak up and call wrong out. Every time.

It is time for listening and understanding, not merely hearing and choosing to ignore.

Right is right, even if no one is doing it and wrong will always be wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Independence has a price. It’s time we embraced paying it.

Julia Hanschell can be contacted on smartstudying@gmail.com.