Strengthening Jamaica's social fabric

Esther Tyson, Contributor

Dennis Chung wrote an article titled 'Social behaviour - the missing link for Jamaica's development' on Friday, April 25, 2014. I endorse the perspective that he shared.

In his article, he makes the following point: The reasons proper social behaviour is so important to development should be obvious to all, but suffice to say that whether you are in an organisation or in a country setting, no meaningful development can happen without an adherence to rules/structure and the respect of the rights of every citizen in the country, whether they are guilty of a crime or not. It is on these principles of rules, acceptable social behaviour, and respect for the rights of all that modern societies are based. And without these at the base of our development, we cannot consider ourselves a modern society, but rather one with barbaric norms.

The lack of adherence by many of our people to accepted social behaviour is aiding the fast erosion of a stable Jamaican society. There is, instead, a mentality that reflects the thinking that 'man haffi live', so that makes any action acceptable as long as you can get money from it.

Free-for-all

Therefore, on the roads, taxi men and bus drivers drive recklessly, breaking the road code and then become abusive to those who object to their behaviour. To disagree with this manner of road use is seen as 'baxing bred outa me mout'. The need to 'mek a money' is the standard by which all behaviour must be judged, so there should be no objection to harassing tourists to purchase unwanted items because 'man haffi mek a money'. This mentality speaks to a need for immediate gratification without considering the long-term effects of the action.

The work ethic that you should give your employer full commitment and perform your job with excellence in return for your salary is replaced by a practice of chicanery, where you seek to do the least amount of work for the most money. Many people think it is acceptable to take the company's stationery and other materials without permission. They do not see this as stealing, which it is. This has become a pervasive practice.

In schools, where teachers are allowed a number of days per year as casual leave, some teachers believe that they must ensure that they take these days, even when they do not need to, because it is due to them. They do not think about the students who will suffer for not having their classes taught and who will not have their syllabus completed by the end of the school year.

The respect for rules and authority, which is significant in holding the social fabric of a country together, is barely acknowledged by many people. Instead, our culture has become one of silence when wrong is committed. The lack of respect for laws and rules has given rise to an 'informer-fi-dead' culture. Furthermore, the belief that some policemen are joined to some criminal elements and that it is not safe to make reports to them helps to strengthen this mentality.

Informer-fi-dead cultural

The story carried in another newspaper of a lady who, because she made reports to the police of illegal activities, has been harassed and abused by both police and citizens. This strengthens this thinking. This informer-fi-dead culture has been celebrated by our DJs. It has been lionised in dancehall culture. This belief has had a far-reaching impact on dealing with the widespread crime and violence. If we do not change that mentality to one of each citizen taking responsibility to uphold law and order, we are on our way to becoming a failed state. As Dennis Chung says, one with "barbaric norms".

impact on our culture

What is even more alarming is to the see the children in school who have now been born and bred amid this lack of respect for law and order and common decency. This is how they have been socialised in their homes and communities. This informer-fi-dead attitude and fighting because of any perceived 'diss' is now impacting the culture of our schools. Yet the Jamaican society expects that schools are to achieve a miracle and convert these students, so socialised, into law-abiding, model citizens. It is not a workable solution.

As a people, we must understand that when we tear down the standards of common decency, respect for each other and respect for law and order, we are aiding in digging the grave for our nation. We have economic problems. We have problems with our justice system, and we have added to that the problem of social dysfunction.

We need to develop again the aborted Values and Attitudes Programme that Prime Minister P.J. Patterson had tried to implement. Only this time, we need to ensure that it is supported and widespread. It means that the corporate entities that are supporting artistes that continue to send out messages that assist in creating negative and violent sensibilities in our people need to instead invest their resources in artistes who are willing to create positive, moral and uplifting lyrics. This will help to change the culture. It means that the media must join in advertising messages that will positively impact our thinking. We need to advertise messages about matters such as courtesy, good manners, helping others, and being kind.

If we do not realise that we are in a crisis and do not seek to aggressively change the thinking and behaviour of our people, it will destroy all the great plans for investors to come to Jamaica and help in our economic recovery. Our culture must return to one where good manners, courtesy, and respect for law and order are what are feted in our music and art forms, and not crassness, vulgarity and Anancyism.

Esther Tyson is an educator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and esther.tyson@gmail.com.