Glenda Simms, Contributor
PUBLIC SCHOOLS are fast becoming the institutions that are expected to put right all of society's wrongs. In recent times, every man and his dog in both first-world and third-world countries have placed more demands upon the school agenda.
The latest expectation is for schools to return every pot-bellied and fat pickney to the time in human development when we were all slim, trim and properly fed. That was the time before we gave permission for all kinds of vendors to crowd the school gates with junk food, stale greasy fritters, tired patties, teeth-staining cheese tricks and frozen sugar-loaded drinks that are regularly sucked through the corners of plastic bags.
This was also the time when mothers got out of their beds to make a healthy bowl of porridge or prepare a traditional Jamaican breakfast for the entire family including the husband or boyfriend who stayed in bed until the breakfast was ready. Alas, those days, like the dodo bird, are becoming artefacts of another time in our history.
Today, children's nutritional needs have become very topical and in many places the debate on how schools must take a lead in fixing yet another social problem is heating up.
REMOVE THOSE FOODS
On September 29, The Gleaner carried a related Reuters article out of The United Kingdom (U.K.). This article informs us that in the Mother Country "all foods high in fat, salt and sugar are to be banned in school cafeterias and from vending machines.
According to the report, Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, has identified low quality processed bangers and burgers high in fat, salt and sugar as items that must go. In order to replace the addictive junk foods the Government of the U.K. will commit 495.4 million pounds over the next three years towards the needed initiatives to correct the perceived problem.
It is important to note that the school governors will be held responsible for carrying out the Government's directive and the Office of Standards in Education will use their inspectors to ensure that no school breaks the rule.
The U.K. is putting these measures in place at the same time that the Planning Institute of Jamaica has discovered that many of our children are either overweight or underweight. The report in the October 4 edition of The Gleaner informs us that a 'nutrition team' will be set up to ensure the nutritional needs of young children in the basic schools of the nation.
Predictably, this team will set some rules for what can or cannot be eaten by Jamaican basic school children, while they are in school. What they eat on the outside is the business of the homes, so parents in general and mothers in particular will have to get into the mode of learning what kind of feeding patterns will be of greatest nutritional value to their young children.
We probably will see a suggestion for a cadre of inspectors assigned to ensure that teenage mothers and the "jiggy- jiggy" thirty-year-old grandmothers leave the club early enough to get some sleep so that they can break the habit of packing the oversized knapsacks with sweet biscuits, boxed sweetened chemicals and the $100 or $50 which is to be used to "buy something at break time"
The principals and staff of the 'malnourished' schools had better prepare for a new set of guidelines to deal with this newly discovered problem. They are just "around the corner". While we anticipate the nutritional rules and regulations, this writer would like to suggest some other rules to cover other malnourished aspects of the school system. Some of these aspects have been highlighted in the media; others are topics of discussion at the one-stop shop in the village.
1. Every teacher on the morning shift must be at his or her desk by 8:30 to ensure that children are not left unsupervised at any time.
2. School buses must be serviced, cleaned, well-ventilated and the bus drivers must wear clean, well pressed uniforms and pay close attention to their personal hygiene.
3. All female students must obey skirt length guidelines. Those who break this rule in an effort to be seen as sexy and tough must be sent home. The principal must not attempt to rip out the skirt hem.
4. Male students must wear their pants on their waists and not below their underwear (floral or plain).
5. No student (male or female) should be expected to attend schools with pit toilets.
6. Any teacher accused of fondling or sexually assaulting a student should be banned from entering any school premises until he is cleared of the charge by a court of law.
7. No person with poor grammatical, writing or numeracy skills should be allowed to teach in any Jamaican classroom.
8. Every child must be treated equally and with respect for his or her essential humanity. Any teacher or principal who practises the politics of classicism by paying more attention to the doctor's, lawyer's or rich man's child must be charged for restricting the life chances of poor people's children.
This list is not intended to be exhaustive. This is an attempt to underline the need to deal with the chronic malnourished state of far too many of our children. A bowl of healthy food might be the first step on the journey to recovery. Let's give it a good try!
Dr. Glenda Simms is a gender expert.
