Thread: How we teach our children

A new organisation called SLED - Saving Lives Every Day - held their first fundraiser yesterday, 27 February 2011. The Corozal Water Festival and Expo was held at Rainbow Beach in Corozal Town.

Corozal Town is the principal town in Corozal District, the northernmost district in Belize. Belize is the smallest country and only English speaking country in Central America. While these comments are intended for local consumption, the ideas presented here can apply globally.

SLED was organised by business people in the Corozal District. The fundraiser was an all-day fair held in co-operation with the Corozal Town Board, Belize Sailing Association, Corozal Yacht Club, and Consejo Yacht club. Music was provided by Gilharry Seven, a local band, and the featured event of the day was a harbour regatta for Laser Pico class sailboats. Thirty commercial booths offered a variety of goods to fair goers. Weather was perfect, by midday the park was crowded, and organisers counted the event successful.

The purpose of the event was to raise transport money for children who need medical treatment abroad that is not available in Belize. Hospitals in Cuba and many in the U.S. provide free treatment, but getting there and getting home, with few exceptions, is the responsibility of the patient's family. Many are too poor to afford the cost of transport and so do not go. The people involved in SLED want to raise money to pay for transport so that more children can take advantage of the free medical care offered.

So far, so good. Children see this, and not just the children who might benefit. All children in the community see adults getting together for a good purpose. That's a good out-of-the-classroom lesson for them.

But there was another lesson yesterday.

Rainbow Beach is a park at the north end of Corozal Town. Don't think of a sand beach, but rather green grass, palm trees, and a concrete sea wall pierced at intervals by steps leading down into Corozal Bay. The south end of the park is, or was, a children's playground. Was, because the equipment put there for children to play on has been vandalised by adults.

There is the framework for monkey bars but the bars have been stolen. There is the support for a teeter-totter, but the hardware securing the teeter board to the pivot has been stolen, and the teeter board lies useless in the grass. There are two slides that are built over the seawall, ending about a foot over the surface of the water - clean water about three feet deep, perfect for children to play in. The steps leading up to the slides have been stolen.

So children see this, and see that adults think it's okay to tear up what someone else has built, okay to steal whatever you want, okay to destroy what was intended for the use of all in the community. It's another out-of-the-classroom lesson, but not such a good one.

Somewhere some good lessons about what it means to be a good citizen in a community have been lost. Probably only a few people have been guilty of wrecking the playground, but the wrong lesson will be passed on to all the children who play in the park. And the Town Board, looking at tight economic times, will hesitate to spend taxpayers' money to maintain the playground if it's going to be torn up again.

Communities need public education programmes aimed at instilling and maintaining civic pride in all the people who live in the community. Corozal is an attractive town, clean, with lots of green spaces like Rainbow Beach. But perhaps the Corozal Town Board should spend a few of those taxpayer dollars on an awareness campaign, and the local business community should join in the effort to be sure the next generation learns the right lessons, in and out of the classroom.

Context?

(As in, where does this see the light of day?) It reads like something you might find in a weekly paper, and I'm guessing that's where it's aimed.

As story, it doesn't work. The two pieces - the fund raiser and the condition of the park - aren't closely enough related. I expected the longish wind up to take me to something specific connecting the two. (Like the kids ended up at the park as part of the fund raiser.) Plus, there's a cheat in here, one that I've used myself - the "But there was another lesson yesterday." Nope. That lesson was sitting there before yesterday, and it'll still be there tomorrow. You're trying to force the connection by ginning up the time frame.

The good news is, you can write. The copy is clean and reasonably to the point. But this is two different topics under one roof. Also, since the real point is the deplorable condition of the park, how do you want to talk about that? If it's a straight news piece, it needs more reporting, as in, other people. If it's editorial copy, it's in pretty good shape (this works: "There is the framework for monkey bars but the bars have been stolen. There is the support for a teeter-totter, but the hardware securing the teeter board to the pivot has been stolen, and the teeter board lies useless in the grass. There are two slides that are built over the seawall, ending about a foot over the surface of the water - clean water about three feet deep, perfect for children to play in. The steps leading up to the slides have been stolen.") but obviously needs the top reworked to lose the charity stuff.

s.

edit - Taking another look, the meat of your piece works fine if you just start with "Rainbow beach is a park..." about halfway down.

I don't know what the answer is to the vandalism. We have the same type of problem, with schools being vandalised. Of course with schools the govt have to find the money somewhere, to fix them; I’ve always said it would be far less expensive to employ live-in watchmen, but that simple solution doesn’t seem to have occurred to the pointy-heads running things.

On the matter of transport costs...

My own circumstances – age and its associated problems, distance from major medical facilities, and a relative lack of wealth – mean that I too need similar transport. In my case it’s provided by local community-based and church-run organisations. But they cannot meet all the costs involved and depend on Government subsidies to make these services available. I wonder whether it might be possible for certain of your people to make representations to either the level of US Government in a position to do so, or to US-based private enterprise, or to known US philanthropists, to make ex gratia payments to Belize to cover specifically such costs. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

satkinsn - Thanks for commenting. I'm sorry you missed the connection between kids seeing adults doing something positive for the community on one hand and seeing other adults engaged in negative activity. As for the timeline, of course it's forced. That's a common technique you may have missed noticing in other op-ed pieces that use a community news report on a specific event as a launch pad for talking about an ongoing problem. By linking the event and the condition the reader who is not a critic will sense an immediacy about the situation. It is a trick, and it works. I've been a reporter for 56 years and writing op-ed pieces (some you may have read in magazines if you live in the U.S.) for over 40 years and I've learned all the tricks.

And I'm glad you think I can write. I've had editors believing that since I was 14.

One weak part of the piece you missed was the 'So far, so good', a cliché that would have been better dropped. There are a few other nits, but the piece has already been broadcast nationwide so they'll have to remain. And the 'charity stuff' was the whole reason for me being there as a favour to the organisers.

Thanks for your comments. As with all comments I get - well, almost all - your's will be filed but not forgotten, and the next such piece may have its little tricks better disguised.

xO - I've been writing op-ed pieces on vandalism for donkeys' years, trying to tell myself they'll do some good, knowing full well there are some people who have no conscience about tearing up community property. What I'd like to see is one of these people caught and taken before a town meeting, where the Mayor would introduce the vandal to the crowd and say something like, 'The Town Board spent X amount of your tax dollars to build that playground for kids and this man wrecked it. What do you want to do with him?' There's a discussion elsewhere on 'direct democracy' and this might be a good way to put it into practise.

As for philanthropic aid from abroad, we get a lot from Cuba, Venezuela, and the European Union. The U.S. government's USAID programme was a big help. Rotary Clubs in the U.S. work with the Rotary Clubs in Belize in the Gift of Life programme which provides completely free medical aid for children born with heart defects. This depends on voluntary contributions from individual Rotarians in both countries. Churches send aid, but with strings that are often culturally damaging.

For people in our age group there is little help available. When the time comes that I can no longer survive without the level of medical aid available in Belize, I'll have to cash in my chips and hope the world can survive without me.

Originally Posted by garza

satkinsn - Thanks for commenting. I'm sorry you missed the connection between kids seeing adults doing something positive for the community on one hand and seeing other adults engaged in negative activity. As for the timeline, of course it's forced. That's a common technique you may have missed noticing in other op-ed pieces that use a community news report on a specific event as a launch pad for talking about an ongoing problem. By linking the event and the condition the reader who is not a critic will sense an immediacy about the situation. It is a trick, and it works. I've been a reporter for 56 years and writing op-ed pieces (some you may have read in magazines if you live in the U.S.) for over 40 years and I've learned all the tricks.

A couple of quick points: first, the trick gets old. You can see it very clearly on most television newscasts in the U.S., when a story that has no particular reason to lead, no inherent urgency, has a "tonight" tossed into the intro. As in, "TONIGHT, THE U.S. CONGRESS IS GRAPPLING WITH A STALLED ECONOMY..."

At some level, I think readers pick up on the slight of hand and do a little mental discounting.

Second, as for the kids seeing one behavior and then the other, I understand what you're trying to do. I'm arguing it doesn't work, that the two issues aren't tied closely enough in your copy to get you there. You're not all that far from a generic "kids get lots of mixed messages, and we shouldn't do that."

You've had a good long run in journalism. Congrats. You don't meet many people with as many years as you have.

s.

edit - Is the piece available in its spoken form online? When I read it I assumed it was for print, and would like to hear how it works in the ear. tks, s.

satkinsn - I'll make it available. But first I need to take an aspirin and lie down with a cold rag on my head. I'm devastated. My bag of tricks is getting moldy. You shouldn't do that to an old man.

I'll let you know when the audio is available online.

Make that 'fellow old man.'

You have some years on me, but not too many.

And when it comes to old, used up tricks in journalism, no one beats a dead horse like I do.

s.

Should've known. Another old hack reporter. No one else would have seen what you saw.

As for beating dead horses, I can flay them into hamburger.

Anyroad, I set up a freeby web site with Yola and looking at the hosting prices there I think I'll switch. The contract on my present site is running out so I'm not putting anything else on it until I know what I'm going to do. The one I just set up is belizenotes.yola.com. The mp3 track is there, a bit ragged sounding and I don't know why. But it's plain enough.

In listening back to it, with your comments in mind, I should have done a straight story about the event with more details, and saved the playground comments specifically for an op-ed piece. The problem with radio is, none of the transmitters around the country has the ability to pull something back for editing. The playground issue came up while I was there and sort of took over my thinking. My audio was accompianied with a script for the news presenter with the details of the boat races, winners of various contests and such. The audio was used seperately.

Originally Posted by garza

Should've known. Another old hack reporter. No one else would have seen what you saw.

As for beating dead horses, I can flay them into hamburger.

Ha! Absolutely. pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm the walking, talking definition of a hack. Lucky though, like you I'm still working.

Originally Posted by garza

Anyroad, I set up a freeby web site with Yola and looking at the hosting prices there I think I'll switch. The contract on my present site is running out so I'm not putting anything else on it until I know what I'm going to do. The one I just set up is belizenotes.yola.com. The mp3 track is there, a bit ragged sounding and I don't know why. But it's plain enough.

Gonna give it a listen tonight. Thank you.

Originally Posted by garza

In listening back to it, with your comments in mind, I should have done a straight story about the event with more details, and saved the playground comments specifically for an op-ed piece. The problem with radio is, none of the transmitters around the country has the ability to pull something back for editing. The playground issue came up while I was there and sort of took over my thinking. My audio was accompianied with a script for the news presenter with the details of the boat races, winners of various contests and such. The audio was used seperately.

How does it work where you live? I know it's a small place - what do you have, repeater transmitters around the country? One national station?

best,

Scott A.

Years ago there was one national station, Radio Belize, operated by the colonial government. Ten years after independence, which came in 1981, private stations began to be allowed, and the government station, unable to compete, eventually went off the air. Today there are three stations with nationwide coverage using repeaters, plus about a dozen stations covering small areas. All are f.m.

The government station had an interesting history. It began in World War One as ZIK2, a cw link between British Honduras, as Belize was called then, and the Colonial Office in London. In the 30s a man named Fairweather built an a.m. modulator and started local daily news broadcasts. That grew over the years into a full-featured local radio station - government controlled, of course. When it finally shut down it was running a 10kw a.m. transmitter and a 25 kw f.m. transmitter - I don't remember the erp, that's been a few years ago.

Ricardo

Originally Posted by garza

Churches send aid, but with strings that are often culturally damaging.

cf missionary position

Originally Posted by satkinsn

A couple of quick points: first, the trick gets old. You can see it very clearly on most television newscasts in the U.S., when a story that has no particular reason to lead, no inherent urgency, has a "tonight" tossed into the intro. As in, "TONIGHT, THE U.S. CONGRESS IS GRAPPLING WITH A STALLED ECONOMY..."

At some level, I think readers pick up on the slight of hand and do a little mental discounting.

Not just in the US. They've been doing it here for more years than I care to remember. I've stopped watching the "news" completely.

What amazes me are the number of brain-dead who sit glued to their TVs as if it all matters.

Oh, and slight = sleight. Cheers.

Now xO, without the brain-dead, where would tv be?

And the correct address is belizenotes.yolasite.com. Sorry I got it wrong before.

Thanks for the catch on sleight. Yes, of course.

As for tv news, like most people in the business I have a love-hate relationship with it.

A well crafted tv piece can hit certain notes no other journalism reaches. On the other hand, no medium turns out more in your face junk.

I think, sometimes, that the old saw about 95% of everything being crap is literally true.

s.

Television has always had the ability to fulfill the forecasts we heard in the early days. Literacy, we were promised, would become universal as the electronic teacher sat in your home night after night and conducted master classes in science and history and the arts. Ignorance would be a part of history but never a part of our future. A new renaissance was about to begin. That television has fallen far short of that promise is the fault of three people: the sponsor, the network executive, and the viewer.

Consider that from the beginning there was quality programming on the air. 'Victory at Sea' started its run shortly after 'I Love Lucy' began but what a difference. 'I Love Lucy' was so popular, city engineers reported drops in water pressure every time a commercial was on during the show. When a commercial break started families leaped from their chairs and raced one another to the bathroom, and the simultaneous flushing of many toilets strained the capacity of the water works to maintain pressure. 'Victory at Sea' and programmes like it were produced by the networks in the U.S. primarily so stations could prove to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission, by whose rules radio and tv stations must operate.) that they were operating in the 'public interest, convenience, and necessity' and thus keep their station licences.

The viewers chose 'I Love Lucy'. Network executives and sponsors followed the viewers. Edward R. Murrow could invite you to 'See It Now', but if you'd rather not, no one could force you. So television sank to the level of that old favourite symbol of tastelessness, the lowest common denominator. As time went on some of us were aware that the comedy, gangster, and cowboy shows on the radio that many people had belittled as low-class entertainment, in retrospect began to look like forgotten classics from a golden age of mass entertainment.

Other nations were more fortunate. In the UK, especially, television did not sink to the level of television in the U.S. Over the years even the silliest programmes from the British Isles have maintained a level of good writing, superb acting, and professional production unmatched by any of the commercial networks or independent producers in the U.S.

How it all compares today I really don't know. I've not watched television at all for nearly 20 years, and before that only occsionally all the way back to high school. But from time to time I do read articles about the state of television around the world, and the picture is not good. I finally broke down and googled 'Charlie Sheen' and tried to watch one of his bits on Youtube, a druggie on a mission to be the stupidest kid on the block. If this is U.S. television today, I'm happy to be out of range. But whether that's the norm I don't know.

In 1951 when 'I Love Lucy' began I was 11 years old. I thought it was childish. Today that Sheen Youtube video was evidence that culturally, the U.S. has reached a tipping point from which there will be no recovery.