‘When you exist in a constant state of survival mode, you very rarely have the chance to do some self-introspection and think,…’
JUST to give you an idea as to what my frame of mind has been like this week, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit and I thought the rumbling around me was my dryer playing the fool.
My lack of focus stems from some things that are stewing in my mind. Just bubbling and boiling over.
A therapist I once saw said the best way to deal with this sort of mental turbulence is to let it out, so get ready for the torrential downpour!
Last week Saturday our mighty Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, in the wake of protest action and rising crime rates, reminded parents that they should “parent,” that right now they are doing a crap job and that’s why all their offspring grow into criminals.
In theory, yes, bad or absentee parenting won’t exactly turn out model adults. No one sets out to be a bad parent, but most of us are doing the best we can with the tools that we have.
You see PM, many of the parents, whom I assume you are targeting are simply mirroring the parenting or lack of that they received. Most of these parents live in a constant state of survival mode. When you exist in a constant state of survival mode, you very rarely have the chance to do some self-introspection and think, “Ahh well, my parents used to call me dum dum all the time and didn’t encourage me to take school seriously. It didn’t feel good, so I think I am going to break out of this pattern and do better for my children.”
If you are a single parent struggling to keep the lights on and bellies fed while dealing with your own difficulties, you don’t have the emotional space and quite often the resources to reflect on your parenting skills and how you can change.
Instead of being a smug sancti-mommy who rubs their perfection in everyone’s faces, you can help educate, inform and create better parents within our society.
Pull that Ministry of Health on board and offer parenting and emotional support in our healthcare systems. Wrangle in the Ministry of Education and place more school counsellors in schools, especially those in high-risk areas. Invest in more emotional support programmes, more life-skills programmes, and more community outreach.
A big problem that I have had with our governments is that they continually place emphasis on economic or infrastructural development as the keystone to being a better nation, when in fact it is human investment that will make us great. Our people need help on so many fronts. So instead of trying to dazzle us with fancy new driver’s licences and overpriced highways to nowhere, try investing in ways that uplift your people, and give them the tools they need to do better.
This isn’t a band-aid problem, this is a long-haul effort to break generational curses and reprogramme the way we interact with one another and ourselves.
So that was eating at me for a while.
Oh, that and Diana Mahabir-Wyatt questioning the rationale behind investigations happening into homes 25 years after the Sabga report, when they should just probably ignore it… like she did… and go after the institutions named in the recent Justice Judith Jones Report.
You might be trying to deflect your guilt for doing nothing 25 years ago, but the rest of us, especially the victims would like some justice. And hey good point, they should be looking into the Jones report, they should be doing both.
So please keep your opinions to yourself, you dropped the ball 25 years ago, admit it and help make amends.
Lastly, it’s No More Mandatory Mask Wearing Day from tomorrow, so wear your mask or don’t. I really can’t care anymore, I will continue to wear mine in crowded indoor settings, because a pandemic hasn’t taught Trinis anything about giving people personal space.
There, that feels a little better. Clear mind, clear thoughts, and thankfully working dryer.
Well-written !