The possibilities and pitfalls of growing up in Bermuda
Date Posted: Friday, February 22, 2008Author: Pastor Maria Seaman
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Bermuda still has to be one of the most wonderful places to live. Yes, there is much that is wrong, but equally there is so much that is right.
Take for instance, the fact that the government is offering free college education to those students who graduate from the Senior School.
Wow! This is great! The challenge now is to encourage our children to complete Senior School, with the necessary grades, so that they can enter into, and succeed at, the Bermuda College.
The plain truth we must also emphasize is that the vast array of opportunities, found in Bermuda, are equal to the vast number of distractions in our small Island of a mere 21 square miles. Our students will have to overcome the temptations that are plentiful in Bermuda, in order to make the most of the opportunities at The Bermuda College.
So, I was thinking that we need to crack down on a few things in order to help push our students towards academic excellence in this quickly unwinding 21st Century, of frills and thrills.
Here is my crackdown wish list:
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on the number of our children who are working to pay bills and not able to spend enough time in reading and completing homework assignments.
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on how many children are being watched by “Uncle”, while Mama is at work.
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on the excuses that we offer for the failure of our children to succeed in manifesting good habits.
- Parents, (based on #3), there needs to be a crackdown on the tolerance level of poor parenting skills. What about a Mirrors program for parents? All some of our parents need is a wonderful program that can help bring about the change that they may desire.
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on how many of our male children go to Primary School clad in earrings. This is the wrong focus for our children. We are teaching the children that their outward adornment is more important then the real reason they are in school. Not to mention how silly it seems to demand that the boys not wear earrings in Senior School, when they have been allowed to do so in their past schools.
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on how many children are allowed to acquire bikes at the age of sixteen, when their academic standing is poor or below the expected norm.
- Parents there needs to be a crackdown on how many of our students are walking around holding up their pants, because they are too big and they do not have a belt for their too-big pants. (My apologies. This is the style.)
- Parents there needs to be a crackdown on how easily our teens can obtain the latest cell phones and become prisoners of this digital method of communication.
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on how many of us believe the report of the child over the Report Card.
- Parents, there needs to be a crackdown on the limiting of the vision and possible dream-come-true stories of our children.
Indeed, with today’s generation, the possibilities are endless. Hence, the pitfalls to stop the endless possibilities also exist. Parents, may we be determined to become a part of the process of ensuring that our children succeed in life. That is, that they attain the goals that they have set before themselves.
Let’s teach them to dream, and then coax them daily to pursue the dream cautiously and convincingly with every choice they make. Our children must know that what they do today, will not only impact their today, but also have an effect on their tomorrow.