Retired educator and social commentator, Jeff Broomes.
Some of those gathered at the Democratic Labour Party’s headquarters yesterday for the Lunchtime Lecture.
Retired educator and social commentator, Jeff Broomes, is dead set against allowing cell phones into schools across this island from this September.
In 2009, the Ministry of Education banned the use of cell phones in schools, but the Ministry is now set to introduce its new Mobile Technologies Use Policy for Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools in Barbados from the start of the 2017-2018 academic year, and students will once again be able to bring their devices to school. This move, however, is not sitting well with Broomes, who is adamant that the idea of legalising cell phones in schools will lead to disastrous consequences.
He made this position known yesterday afternoon as he delivered the Astor B. Watts Lunchtime Lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s George Street headquarters, on the topic ‘No Surrender, No Retreat – The Battle for the Heart and Soul of Barbados must be Won’. The retired principal said that there is potential educational use for such devices, but he was fast to point out that there is currently not a single school in this country with any programme in place to utilise that potential.
“If I am wrong, show me one. We are simply putting the cart before the horse with no driver or better yet, we are starting the cricket match and then looking to prepare the pitch after the game is well and truly on, and two or three batsmen have been knocked down or injured. These phones will be used as links in the recruitment game and as weapons in a most hurtful way,” he maintained.
Additionally, Broomes explained that reintroducing this dynamic into the school environment will now require management at the various schools to be responsible for those devices to some extent. He explained that if a phone is lost or stolen, because they will be legal, the school would have a duty to investigate and he is not convinced that they are ready for that responsibility.
“I know Mr. Jones has gone the popular route – he is a politician – but from a personal perspective I don’t agree with it,” he stated.
He raised his concerns about cell phone use in schools as he touched on the issue of social media and the major challenge it is posing to acceptable norms and values in society. He lamented that on account of increasing social media use, persons are finding shortcuts in writing, spelling and personal expression.
“Most devastatingly though are the messages, both false and immoral, and the pictures that are presented as all that the world has to offer,” he said.
Broomes added, “We have all grown up with vicarious learning as a contributing factor in shaping our vision and experiences. Nothing has worked better for most of us than the ability to read. Every school in this country has a library, but very few have library study as a component of their curriculum. Sad, but true. We must present a counter narrative to the filth and degradation that social media presents.”
As such, the long-time educator is proposing that in an effort to positively impact the minds of our youth, a programme should be introduced as part of the school curriculum which mandates all children to read non-academic books, throughout their primary years and at least first or second form in the secondary system. He made the call as he contended that the ability to read and derive positive ideas and imaginative thoughts is at the core of the battle to win back the heart and soul of our nation.
“Reading brings enlightenment and broadens the imagination; inability to read guarantees ignorance in the academic and Bajan definition,” he stated. (JRT)