The Editor, Sir:

Several years ago I listened to a heated argument among friends on the University of the West Indies campus. It was on a very trivial topic but now I see it as an exquisite snapshot of culture. These young men were trying to out-shout each other about whether it was bad bwoy dat 'ran tings' at high school or whether it was 'bright bwoy'.

Explaining our culture

When I tell my American friends about this, they find it more incredulous than anything else I could tell them about Jamaican culture. In their cruel high school culture where everybody's quest is to be 'cool,' being a bright 'bwoy' or girl would definitely not be found in that 'how to' manual, the chance of such an argument taking place was next to nil since nerd or geek is a morelikely appellation to a high academic achiever. Among my African-American friends it's a tough balancing act to strive for academic excellence and not feel like an outsider; you might be accused of behaving as if you were 'white'. In Jamaican high schools, I am willing to bet that the bright girl or boy is still looked up to and definitely not reviled or cursed. Professor Sally MacGregor from the then Tropical Metabolism Research Unit at the U.W.I. noted in a lecture, that among young girls in a depressed Kingston community being bright in school was a source of pride for a family and community and had no negative connotations for the girl among her peers. However, as a Jamaican you don't need to conduct a study to see for yourself the extent to which Jamaicans spend money, time and energy on extra lessons, and evening school doing some course or trying to get more 'subjects'.

Isn't it wonderful that when our government is ready to make education a priority they will find a receptive population that will not need to be convinced that being educated is desirable, worthy and might make you 'run t'ings'?

I am, etc.,

KARIS CHIN-QUEE

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Via Go-Jamaica

kpc11@psu.edu