Stop weaponising being dunce

THE EDITOR, Sir:

While I applaud and admire upcoming artiste Raheem Bowes, who goes by the stage name Valiant, I cannot help but feel dismayed by his new song, Dunce Cheque. In this song, he gives credence and validity to being dunce. He has weaponised it in our schools and, by extension, our society.

Our education system has done extensive work to combat the ills of illiteracy. The teachers have gone above and beyond, even to their own demise, to ensure that students under their care can read and write and have an education. This song can be considered as an attack on the efforts of educators and their quest to make education attractive, especially in certain schools across this country.

I beseech Valiant to be more responsible in his lyrics. He should not belittle the relevance of education, and should respect law and order and morals. He should not make our jobs as teachers more difficult. We are already under tremendous pressure.

He should also remember that vulnerable youth are looking to him and other artistes in the dancehall industry for guidance, so they need to guide them well.

MIKHAIL MCKENZIE

mikhailmckenzie@yahoo.com