T&T must return to discipline – Archbishop

Parents, school administrators and the wider society need to find other ways to discipline children.

In a 90-minute discussion on the popular Eye on Dependency programme on i95.5 FM last Sunday, Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon spoke on the disciplinary issues that plagued society.

He said when corporal punishment was banned in the country, it left many with no other means of disciplining their charges. He maintained there should have been a nation-wide campaign in alternate forms of discipline as parents, grandparents and teachers were left without the necessary skills to discipline the children in their care, outside of beating them.

He told hosts Garth St Clair and Natasha Nunez that when people reference the Bible saying spare the rod, spoil the child (Prov 13:24), it was a misinterpretation of the scripture. “Some of what was called discipline was abuse. The actual meaning was spare the rod of discipline…” he explained.

He said metaphorically that the rod has been on the top shelf of the toolbox, and it now needs to be placed at the bottom shelf.

He said, “discipline is not about beating. It’s about helping a child understand respect, self-respect, respect for others” so that they “grow up and contribute to society.”

Archbishop Gordon said there is a distinction between discipline and abuse or violence, which traumatises a child. “We are a nation of traumatised people.”

Turning to societal issues, he said some in T&T had adopted US rap artiste 50 Cents saying of “get rich or die trying”. “We made money as our number one and God,” he said, adding that years ago during the Oil Boom, there was enough money to be a first world nation, but “we used the money for ‘bling’…” like new cars and houses.

Just back from visiting the Diocese of Willemstad as Apostolic Administrator, he said he visited Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire. He explained that Bonaire residents were poor and had social problems, but the Dutch government responded by investing in education and after-school programmes.

On that point, Archbishop Gordon remarked, “What we’re facing in Trinidad and Tobago is a developmental problem…that’s what we’re facing first and foremost.” He said the solution is not “building more jails. That will clean up the streets immediately but doesn’t solve the problem.”

He said there were pockets of “serious underdevelopment” in the country. Money has to be spent on education as “a tool of development for a child to become the best version of themselves”, not as certification. He stated, “unless we see education as development, we’re not going to move the country forward…We have to have all hands on deck with education in this country for at least ten years to turn this ship around.”

He agreed with Nunez who said there were talented nationals around the world, but admitted, the country did not lack talent but lacked vision and “we have to change the vision”.

The Archbishop said much had to be done to ensure children and grandchildren stay in Trinidad and Tobago, to reduce the brain drain, “we have to decide how best we educate”. He acknowledged that personal safety was also a reason for the brain drain, with parents sending their children abroad because of the high crime rate.

The Archbishop highlighted a national problem in the lack of consequences for actions. He cited for example, the use of fireworks by the man on the street, which is illegal, as well as the anti-gang legislature which appears to not be adequately enforced. The latter was in response to the hosts querying if teachers in schools were perhaps afraid of students who may have been in gangs and thus posed a threat.

He did not dismiss a top-down approach, “We need leadership to turn this around. We can’t dodge that fact…somebody has to step up to the plate and put the boundaries back in place.”

During the interview, Archbishop Gordon also commented on drug use in society, the murder rate, gang culture, and various newspaper headlines including the theft of items from church property. He lamented that the sense of the sacred had been lost.

The full interview is available on the Eye on Dependency YouTube channel. —RS