Misbehaving students prompt pleas for adult accountability

A government minister, a union leader, and a parent advocate are weighing in on how best to tackle the lewd and disruptive behaviour of some schoolchildren on public buses.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith, General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) Dennis Depeiza, and spokesperson for the Group of Concerned Parents Paula-Ann Moore agree that the problem demands urgent attention, though their individual assessments highlight different facets of the issue.

Griffith attributes the issue to a breakdown in parenting and community mentorship. He’s calling for stronger parental training, peer support networks and intergenerational guidance to help steer young commuters toward more respectful conduct.

“We need to have now some really strong PTAs that are doing developmental training for parents because it is very, very evident that there is a parenting crisis on the island,” Griffith told Barbados TODAY. “We should have peers impacting on peers in a positive way.”

Griffith said his ministry is committed to providing life skills training, but stressed that schools, families and communities must also play their part.

He proposed engaging retired elders as mentors to help bridge generational gaps and reinforce positive values.

CTUSAB official, Depeiza argues that the behaviour has been allowed to spiral due to a lack of enforcement and adult accountability.

“The problem… has been allowed to grow and develop because we have failed to put enforcement mechanisms in place,” Depeiza said, pointing to longstanding issues on ZR minibuses that have spilled over into the Transport Board system.

He warned that unless society stops tolerating substandard behaviour, especially when adults model or enable it, the situation will worsen.

“It needs a comprehensive approach… firm and decisive action to correct it,” he said.

A female student commuter, who travels with her two younger brothers, said she’s seen the misconduct firsthand.

“Some students were cursing and getting on bad on the buses, and the bus driver had to warn them several times,” she said. “One of the boys cursed the bus driver, and the bus driver had to stop the bus and demand that the boys get off the bus.”

Spokesperson for the Group of Concerned Parents, Paula-Ann Moore, described the situation as troubling and urged both children and adults to take responsibility.

“It is really deeply concerning…we hope it is the small minority of students in our public transport sector. Otherwise, on the streets of Barbados, our students need to appreciate that they have a lot to be thankful for and privileges in Barbados that other children would be grateful to have elsewhere in the Caribbean and in the world,” she said.

Moore urged parents to reinforce expectations of respectful conduct, especially as children mature. She expressed hope that the troubling reports reflect a minority and reminded students that in public, they represent not just themselves, but their families, communities and country.

She added that Barbados must be mindful of the sad reality that many children do not have mentors who model appropriate behaviour, whether in the family, community or otherwise.

“We therefore have to come together as a society to try to encourage our children as to what is appropriate behaviour. We as adults need to be the wider village. We have zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour and remind them that there are consequences” (LG)