Traditional values to which people once subscribed no longer hold in an increasingly permissive society.

Norms and conventions that were once considered sacrosanct are now seen as a humbug, an inconvenience that can be easily brushed aside in furtherance of one’s selfish pursuits. And it does not seem to matter what others think about the methods you use to get to your desired goals. After all, the ends justify the means, even if this entails snuffing out the life of a person for a few thousand dollars; shooting wildly in a crowd of people to eliminate one person; using the Jamaica Customs Agency as a conduit for the illegal importation of guns, drugs and other banned substances and products; or conspiring with a government official to get a coveted contract.

All of these are carried out in defiance of law and order, of accepted norms which are necessary for the survival of a free and just society. It is moral relativism run amok, and it is tearing apart the social fabric of our society. The problems of indiscipline and emerging violence that we are seeing in our schools are direct results of this culture of defiance. We get duly alarmed at this growing indiscipline and its concomitant violence, but we are not reckoning seriously with the reality of the environment that is shaping the behaviour of our children.

Naturally, children are influenced by what they observe in adult society. If the adults do not seem to care, why should they? If adults behave in ways that indicate that they are not bound by certain values, norms, and conventions, what are the young to say or do? My mind goes to that scripture that says the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge (Ezekiel 18:2). What this means, in effect, is that one generation suffers from the irresponsibility of the ones that went before. Past generations have eaten a lot of sour grapes — or oranges, if you wish — and the children are now living the reality of the whirlwind of sociopathy that is killing us as a society.

What seems clear to me is that the problems will get worse before things get better. The problem of indiscipline and violence in our schools will intensify before we can effectively contain them. I wish I had a better prognosis, but this seems to be the reality. So we might as well strap ourselves in for more outlandish behaviour from our young people and for increased violence being used as a means of settling disputes. The truth is that we have emerged into a crass society, in which listening to another viewpoint with a view to settling a dispute is seen as weakness. This is particularly so in the inner city, where the brutishness of living is feeding the young a diet of revenge. If you are “dissed”, the “disser” is an enemy to be treated with utter disdain and, when the time is appropriate, to be erased from the face of the Earth. Look for the gun problem to become more problematic in our schools.

And we need not mention the use of drugs that is fast becoming a sordid feature of this culture of defiance. It goes without saying that indiscipline will bolster the use of drugs and drugs will lead to greater indiscipline and defiance. This is the vicious cycle in which we now live. This, too, is a function of the wider society, in which the use of hard drugs for pleasure and to escape unpleasant realities of life has been a problem for a long time. I believe that too much money, time, and energy has been expended in fighting the supply of drugs with far too little attention being paid to the demand for these substances, but that is a conversation for another time. What seems evident is that the “war” against drugs has been an abysmal failure. As drug use among schoolchildren increase, expect the demand for hard drugs to increase exponentially.

So what is to be done? One has to be humble to admit that there are no easy solutions, but the authorities have to move with unaccustomed speed to cauterise the problem in our schools. I do not believe it has reached the point of no return as yet, but we will soon get there if bold actions are not taken immediately to treat with the problem. It will not help to form fancy committees, task forces, or commissions to study the problem. Given our legendary lethargic approach to such matters, we will be overwhelmed by the problem before the first meetings are held.

The Ministry of Education must engage the law enforcement community to come up with short-term solutions to the problem. Critical stakeholders in the counselling community — in psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy, and social work — must be made an integral part of this endeavour. Guidance counsellors do a great job, but they are not sufficient to the task of arresting what we are dealing with. They need help, and fast.

They must work collaboratively with the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica to help parents to understand their critical support to this effort. Defiance of authority at school starts first with a defiance of authority at home. What level of collaboration takes place between the parents and the association and how active is the association in the communities, especially those under zones of special operation (ZOSO)?

Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang has spoken about the need to reboot the social intervention initiative in these areas with a view to ensuring greater accountability on how money is spent to guarantee optimal returns. But is this mere cheap talk intended to assuage a fearful public? Any such rebooting must be a joined-up effort with the critical stakeholders aforementioned.

My greatest fear is that too often we address these pressing matters, like the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs on constitutional reform, with the speed of a snail moving away after a meal of lettuce.

It was predictable. As soon as the Opposition heard of the death of some babies from a bacterial attack in our hospitals it wasted no time in calling for the resignation of Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton. Comparisons were made immediately to the resignation of Dr Fenton Ferguson under whose watch, as minister of health, there was a similar occurrence. It is missed that the national outrage against Ferguson was not so much that the babies died. He might have survived even this. What incensed people is what seemed to them to be his uncaring characterisation of them as not being “babies in the real sense”. Hence the national uproar and his subsequent sacking from that ministry.

The lack of alacrity in getting word of the outbreak to the public gave the impression that Tufton and his ministry had something to hide. I have said repeatedly that when things like this happen it is at the core of good communication that you get out ahead of the story before circumstances force you to admit it, and after much speculation has sullied the subject against you. In this, the Ministry Of Health was not adroit. And Dr Tufton stumbled to give cogent answers to questions asked. But I do not believe that this particular incident merits resignation or firing from a job that he has been doing with a reasonable amount of public satisfaction.

Congratulations, Jamaica Standard Products

Congratulations are in order for the John O Minott Jr-led Jamaica Standard Products on the celebration of its 80th anniversary. This company has made sterling contributions to the development of the coffee industry in Manchester and Jamaica in general. From a small company it has carved out a niche in that part of the country in making coffee, with its brands, a competitive export product, earning valuable foreign exchange for the country. This column wishes them well for the future.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm, Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life, and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.