Hard of Hearing, who is responsible?

Editor: Many wonder how we got that way. We do not balance our budget. We give away money without requiring anything from the recipients. Not that this is necessary because people would rather work for their income support, farmers support, fishermen support, business support, poor relief, prime grant, Zero Hunger Trust Fund and any other free money, goods and services. All these put us in the category of beggars. If given the chance, we could do a job equivalent to the money received to enhance our communities.

We know that it is perhaps unethical to keep the age of consent at 15 years because of all the heartaches it brings to home, school and church. Why can’t we set it at 18 when people can take full responsibility for their own actions?

Some ask,” why pension funds should be given away to those who have not contributed in the form of non-contributory pensions and the $500 to the approximately 25% of students who usually succeed at CSEC every year?” Every effort should be made to collect all eligible contributions so that everyone would qualify to receive a pension upon retirement. Attachment at some job site would give successful CSEC students a sense of their next movement in life. This would give them a sense of purpose and worth. Some countries have national service to help young graduates become responsible.
We know that all students need to pass a minimum of 5 subjects inclusive of English and Math, and have a skill. Yet we have not adjusted our teaching and learning to accomplish this. We know that our country requires [many] technical workers; yet we provide insufficient training for people to enter the fields of fishing, farming, building construction, electronics, automobile and machine maintenance. It appears that we expect our technical workers to learn by trial and error. In many cases we give them no background in the science subjects that would give them the foundation for further studies in institutions or to continue learning on their own.

We continue to prosecute and persecute our teachers when we know that among all stakeholders, they have the greatest influence on student performance. Statistical analyses may very well show the effect of excluding unvaccinated teachers from their nurturing jobs. Perhaps we need to begin a visible counter to show the amount of monies we would owe them by the time the Privy Council rules in their favour in the vaccine mandate case.
The reason for our intransigence is, perhaps, because we have sustained damage to our ears having been exposed to the blasting, obnoxious and loud music from our minivans. On one occasion when asked to turn down the music, they turned it higher. The presence of senior citizens and young children made no difference. Some are frightened, fearful that if they speak out, they would lose their seat in the van. There appears to be insufficient seats to carry passengers to their destination in a timely fashion.

Who is liable for damaged ear drums and loss of hearing? The conductors and van drivers, though they are the direct perpetrators do not have the means to pay the claims of a class action suit, so some higher responsible organization needs of necessity to be held accountable. Through negligent in a situation where they should have ensured the health and safety of the public they have reneged on their responsibility and should pay.

Consequently, they must also accept blame for why we are Hard of Hearing.

Anthony G. Stewart, PhD