'Slang bangers' perplex parents
published:
Monday | June 9, 2008
Sonia Mitchell, Gleaner Writer
Joylene Griffiths-Irving, director public, corporate and government affairs at Scotiabank, reads to children on Read Across Jamaica Day last month. Family life experts are advocating that parents spend more time with children to communicate values. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
The language barrier between parents and their children has grown so wide that some parents are finding it difficult to communicate.
Rose Brown, of Portmore, has a 10-year-old son, and often complains that she just can't keep up with him when he uses colloquialisms like, "Mi a go burn some work now." What does he mean? It's homework time.
At other times, he'd say, "What's up, Dog?" when referring to his friends. This is a friendly greeting.
Like Rose and her son, language presents itself as a barrier between other parents and their children. Grown-ups are perplexed when they are confronted with language like 'little bit' (meaning 'see you later') and 'yuh see mi' (do you understand me?).
Dr Grace Kelly, chairperson at the Department of Behavioural Sciences, Northern Caribbean University (NCU), believes parents must get 'up to speed' with what their children are listening to and what they are watching.
Learn slang
Kelly further states that parents are distancing themselves too much from their children by spending little or no time with them. She advises that parents should try to learn slang and use it with their own children in order to communicate with them.
Kelly says, "Parents need to become more street-smart to communicate with their children."
André Wilson, general manager at Jobquest Jamaica, has no biological children but has fostered many. He says teenagers are heavily influenced by the MTV, and rap and dancehall music.
Sonia Owens, who has a daughter attending prep school, states that her daughter is all into fashion and mod technology such as iPods.
Owens says, "My daughter is not ready for slangs as yet, but I expect when she reaches her teens, maybe she will speak some."
Owens explains that she recently learnt about Gothic influences, where youths indulge in black motifs - nail polish, make-up, clothes, jewellery. Many are also into body piercing and drugs.
But Kelly's advice is to keep the communication lines open.
"Joke with them, interact with them, spend quality parent/children's time with them to make communication easy," the NCU official says.
Lingo Quiz - Breaking language barriers between parents and children
Ever tried to strike up a conversation with your children only to be left confused, annoyed and completely lost? Do they seem to be speaking a whole other language?
Well, we're here to help. With a few lessons from the Lingo Quiz, you'll be chatting it up in no time!
A) Teck weh yuhself
B) Gully creeper
C) Galchester
D) Mi soon forward
Answers
A) Vacate the area, immediately.
It's a phrase that can be used interchangeably as an insult and as a suggestion based on honest consideration of another's well-being.
B) One of the newest dance moves to have come out of dancehall. It is primarily performed at parties that take place on the streets of the inner-city communities of Kingston and has been popularised by dancehall act Elephant Man, who has written a song by the same name.
C) This is a term used to refer to the parish of Manchester. Mostly used by males, the slang is believed to highlight the importance of beautiful women, and de-emphasise males, which is subliminal in MAN-chester.
