Many are doing their job

August 14, 2008

Dear Sir,

I disagree with "Donna of Pembroke" who blames all of us for the recent unfortunate death of Kellon Hill. There are many parents, churches, clubs, individuals, and organisations like Mirrors, Big Brothers, Pride, Youth on the Move, Path Finders, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, Youth Net etc., who have been working extremely hard and with good results with many young people.

There are many single parents who are bringing up their children in Sunday/Sabbath school with manners and respect for seniors and the law. They join many two parent homes who also set standards and rules and have discipline. So I do not accept the criticism that I am responsible and those of us who do our jobs with various odds against us should "bury our heads in shame". The Hill family certainly were doing their job.

The minority group are protected in homes that have no discipline plan and use "things and bling" hoping the child will behave and that is where the deception begins. Having already been laughed at because the teacher cannot say their name, having already seen mommy tell daddy to make the weekly payment and get lost, having already had 15 trips abroad by age twelve and having a TV, iPod and cellphone, we wonder why they are angry and annoyed when they finally leave school and have to work.

If life has been so easy 'till then, they feel cheated because they suddenly enter the real world that has rules and standards and needs skills. Having wasted so much time in school and often supported by their parents, who have intimidated the principal and teacher, there is no way that child even knows where to go to apply for a job and there is little hope if they lack skills and also lack the attitude to try.

"Donna of Pembroke" needs to know that many parents are busy getting on with being a parent. They give fewer consumer goods and trips and place more emphasis on time, attention and praise. They make sure and show love, interest, care, kindness and they sacrifice bingo and cleaning their car to go to a PTA meeting.

They don't look to Government for solutions because they accept their own responsibility as The Parent of that child. While I do agree that "consequences" seem to be missing, nobody can force a parent to do anything. Lord have mercy, we can't even get youth to fasten their helmets to protect themselves and we can't get adults to use their seat belts when we know the consequences could be death. With schools about to open I ask parents to support teachers and principals who want only the best for our children but can only make meaningful progress in a disciplined environment.

DALE BUTLER JP MP

Minister of Social Rehabilitation– and Culture

Seven is the magic number

August 14, 2008

Dear Sir,

Al Seymour, as usual, writes a great deal of sense. Children need to be nurtured and guided through life according to generally accepted standards. It is said that the Jesuits claim that if they haven't trained the child's mind by the age of seven, it is too late. There are far too many Bermudian children being raised in homes which are unsafe – physically unsafe and emotionally damaging. The child learns early that his young world is a dangerous place.

The gang mentality flourishes because all children need somewhere to belong. The so-called 'gang' provides the displaced child with an identity – a code for living and plans for the future. These are the identical things most people plan for their children. However, our interpretation is very different. We want our children to be identified as productive, law abiding citizens. Many of us have a simple personal code – easy to remember – do unto others as you would have them do to you. But, within far too many Bermudian homes, doing unto others isn't what the first author of that mantra intended.

Also, as we know, most children who succeed in school have homes where education is highly valued. Where the parents work together to ensure their children benefit from the opportunities available – where the children are fed properly at regular intervals and put to bed with a bath, a story and a kiss. There are parents who have no idea how to do these things, or why they would be important. When a child is born into a family where the mother lacks a positive support system – where mothering was taught to her by an abusive, neglectful mother of her own – where the father is either non- existent or violent – where both parents are drug and/or alcohol abusers, by the time the cute little baby reaches the age of seven, his mind is formed.

He becomes more and more difficult to teach and control. He is in his own unhappy world now and he will gravitate toward children of the same world – where he understands the rules. When he becomes bigger and more powerful, he becomes a menace to society and himself. Society needs to step in and redirect the child's life when he is at that cute stage – when he needs love and protection in order to develop within established norms and according to society's rules.

There are professionals in Bermuda who know this and do their best to make a difference. These professional groups need to be properly funded – adequately staffed – given the resources to do their jobs. Identifying the families in trouble is relatively easy – it's having the resources to intervene and work with them throughout the child's early life which requires a sincere commitment from Government and the community.

KATH BELL

Paget

'Staycation' blues

Dear Sir,

I am Bermudian and decided to take the day off to vacation like a tourist in my homeland. After leaving the beach next to Blackbeard's Restaurant in St. George's because the drink bar and rentals were closed on a beautiful sunny day in the beginning of August we ventured over to Tobacco Bay, a popular tourist beach. Unfortunately we were extremely disgusted by the amount of trash all over the ground in front of the beach and littered in the trees right in front of where the tourists park their bikes. The people who run this beach should be ashamed of themselves.

Also, half the beach was covered in seaweed and therefore less area to sit. If I had carried a rake with me I would have done it myself! It looked like a trashy beach in a third world country. Is there not someone down there who should be working to keep this area aesthetically pleasing for our tourists? I actually felt sorry for the tourists who were there as they were probably unaware of the cleaner Bermuda beaches like Horseshoe and Elbow. Before our Premier decides to build more hotels perhaps he should focus more effort into improving the tourism product we already have!

While on this note, why does he want to build more hotels when tourist numbers are down and the hotels we do have aren't fully occupied? I have spoken to a few tourists lately who have expressed that the natural beauty of the island is amazing but that is all we seem to be offering. The tourists are bored and so are the locals! Nightlife, what nightlife? We even tried to visit Fort St. Catherine but half the exhibits were closed for repairs in the middle of the tourist season! What is going on with our island these days?

VACATIONING BERMUDIAN

Kudos to KEMH

August 13, 2008

Dear Sir,

After a visit to the much maligned King Edward VII Memorial Hospital yesterday I felt moved to express gratitude to all of the seven staff members that I had dealings with. They were all totally professional and extremely polite and friendly. My business of having an X-Ray and obtaining the film of a previous MRI scan as well as paying for same was all conducted within a record 30 minutes and I was on my way. My congratulations to all those who work in a building which can only be described as Third World, with, in several parts, non-functioning air conditioning. By the way, what did happen to our new hospital plans?

CURIOUS

Pembroke

Is this the best you could do?

Dear Sir,

Was anyone else really excited for the Beijing Olympics? Six channels from NBC, plus coverage on the Canadian channels, including HD TSN (what could be better than seeing Michael Phelps win gold in high definition, droplets of water streaming off the top of his head?). Imagine my surprise when I started watching over the weekend, only to realise that not only did I not have many channels and therefore events to choose from, but the coverage wasn't even from NBC!

Instead, a broadcast called Caribbean Dream appeared to be commentating on the Olympics from a tiny set in the Caribbean with two "experts" and a laptop. Not only that, but when they did actually show the highlights, the picture was horrible and I could barely read the names of the competitors. Not to mention that I cannot schedule my viewing as there isn't a schedule of events, just blocks of hours labelled "Olympics".

The other channels are all blocked out, due to an "exclusive" contract the Bermuda Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) negotiated. Now, I understand that NBC charges more for coverage of the Olympics than for normal scheduling, but is this the best the BBC could do? I don't think this has been an issue during past Olympics, so why did the BBC decide to go cheap this year? I certainly hope they will be passing on that savings to CableVision as I suspect many subscribers will be calling to receive refunds for the many channels they do not have access to during the two weeks of the Olympics.

I mistakenly called CableVision this weekend to complain about the poor quality of the one channel of coverage and was told that it wasn't their decision, but that of BBC. The lovely lady answering the phone agreed that refunds should be issued to subscribers, although I won't be holding my breath. However, I cannot imagine that the BBC has control over all the NBC affiliates and the Canadian ones, so CableVision must have agreed to this contract on some level. Perhaps I am wrong – I'll admit I don't understand how Bermuda television works.

And I also don't understand why the BBC chose to go this route this year – it has made me and many friends become very disinterested in the Olympics, catching snippets on ESPN or the internet. I really hope they reconsider for the winter games in Vancouver in two years. In the meantime, I'll be waiting for my CableVision refund.

DISAPPOINTED BY COVERAGE

Warwick

We deserve better

August 13, 2008

Dear Sir,

It surely must be incredibly embarrassing for all the sponsors that are associated with the appalling third world coverage of the Olympics as presented by ZBM. I still don't understand how I can receive crystal clear reception from outer space and such an abysmal picture and sound from Devonshire! I urge the sponsors to immediately withdraw their sponsorship of this technological farce and allow CableVision to air the choices of coverage that we deserve.

RFK

Smith's