Dear Source:
It's ironic that the same week the VI schools get a bad report card the Governor gets awards for commitment in Education? Are we living in Oz and just need to click our heels three times for commitment to appear? Education problems are a four-part problem. It's parents, teachers, government, and the inability to move forward with the times all combined.
I went through the public school system in the Virgin Islands over 26 years ago. Was I prepared for the real world when I came out? No I wasn't. The year I graduated I encountered computers on the very first job I got. I had never heard about computers in school. My fascination with them has lead to continual self-learning and uses of computers. Every business I have been into in the last 26 years has required some kind of computer skills.
My son graduated from the public school system 6 years ago. Many of the same teachers I had, he had. Computer courses were still not a mandatory requirement for him. The world has progressed in leaps and bounds in computer usages in 20 years time and yet it is still not mandatory for every child coming into today's world.
Many jobs are looking for people that have skills already. Many are not interested in having to train kids. What jobs are left for those with no skills? We are allowing the majority of our kids to be raised to be baggers, servers, stockers, clerks, maids, laborers, etc. If a kid wants to aspire to be a doctor, lawyer, forensic technician, architect, engineer, air traffic controller, meteorologist, scientist, accountant, or in radio, TV, film, music, recording, etc. and I could go on with a very long list…all these backgrounds use computers in this day and age. Even auto mechanics now need to learn computers.
Why is it all so behind the times? Parents, teachers, and government are also lacking in these same skills. How can we improve it for kids if the adults have not improved it for themselves? We cannot teach what we do not know ourselves. We cannot stress importance on something when we have not learned of its importance ourselves.
We have senators that say, give my child a book not a computer yet we are in times that require both books and computers. These same senators sit in a government that is running millions of dollars on Excel spreadsheets which was never meant for the entirety of accounting and will never meet auditor's approvals.
The adult population ignorance of technology is bliss for the commissioners, directors, and the governor yet it is our downfall.
Education will never improve until we educate the parents, the teachers, and the government of this community to recognize the importance of technology and strive to catch up to date. Until we do, every child will still be…left behind.
Our children are our future yet they are behind the times. What future do we have?
Carol Berry
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
