My brother-in-law Phil, an American, always announces his arrival in Belize with the tune, “Fun Time in Belize”. He always bemoans that the popular Children’s Corner radio program is no longer a feature of our airwaves. It had been a hallmark program hosted by the now defunct Radio Belize.
Phil’s ‘fun time in Belize’ reference invariably reminds me of our country’s era of relative innocence. Children would wake up to songs streaming out of Radio Belize and to the lyrics that had become what in modern day lingo we would call ‘brand’ popularized by the one, and only, Children’s Corner. As we hurriedly dressed, lunged into breakfasts, and rummaged and stacked our schoolbags for the long day ahead, the outflow of lyrics created a tempo of optimism as we hummed or sang the choruses of “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” and, “On the Good Ship, Lollipop”.
The “Good Ship” had a fun tempo with lyrics that ran like this, “It’s a sweet trip to a candy shop, where bonbons play, on the sunny beach of peppermint bay. Lemonade stands everywhere, crackerjack bands fill the air, and there you are, happy landing on a chocolate bar….”. (Way back In 1934, Shirley Temple, the famous child star, had sung this classic in the Fox picture, Bright Eyes.) Yes, for us youngsters, the greatest fear we had then, as warned by the “Good Ship Lollipop”, was that we would get a ‘tummy ache’. The latest news of two children shot in broad daylight and another brutally killed with a two-by-four plank, tells of a far different fear—one that now has children looking over their shoulders and cringing as shots ring out, one that no longer surfaces only at night time hours.
Without doubt, and lamentably, times have changed. Children now are awakened to strident complaints and sophisticated analyses on the early morning talk shows that commendably tackle the socio-economic and political issues of the day, but that also gravely manifest the changeover, for us as a nation, from an age of innocence to one of crime and violence. Much the same messages are sounded on the evening news. Newscasters dutifully report the gruesome crime and violence shrouding our country. No longer surprising to us, these horrific instances of violence often involve minors. Gone are the days of lyrics drifting out through windows as Children’s Corner albums hit the sound waves. It is now about stealth and steel of glocks, nine-millimeters, A-K’s, M-16’s, 38’s, the thuds and fury of two-by-fours, and cutting stealth of machetes.
Ironically, our local reports now are being forced to quote international crime reporting agencies that are giving us high scores reflecting our waywardness. Whatever happened to children’s fun times?
As I commented in the National Youth Development Policy I developed in 2006—that was to restart the national process of jumpstarting us toward creating a plan of action for young people, but that continues to gather dust— although the 21st century has marked an era when Belizean youth have greater access to educational and technological advancements, they also are faced with the seamier side of life that has gained a throttlehold in Belizean society as an acceptable way of life. This is now mirrored in a drastic rise in crime, gun violence, and the illicit drug trade, activities that attract youth with get-rich-quick schemes and with destructive power. It is a situation that is made more complex, as the poverty indices of the country remain high.
The plight of our youth has been created through multiple socio-economic/political complexities. Therefore, our youth population’s productive development is dependent to a large degree on the broad based support of the GOB, NGO’s, churches, international partners, families, and civil society. The research has shown that we need to adjust our lenses and begin to see our youth as ‘youth-with-promise,’ rather than ‘youth-at-risk’. We cannot give up hope in what many consider ‘a lost generation’, for who gives up on his/her loved ones? Yet, we cannot remain in self-denial that, indeed, a destructive force is dominating and suffocating the potential of many of our children.
Consequently, it behooves us to prepare our youth to develop their individual competencies, potentials, and talents, while at the same time prepare them to transit from childhood to adolescence to adulthood in productive ways to become gainfully employed citizens contributing to the process of nation building. Restated, we need to recognize the value of viewing our young people from a holistic approach, that is, understanding how children evolve from childhood to adolescence and then to adulthood in light of needs, interests, and challenges. In addition, we then must purposefully devise a plan of action integrating strategies to tackle the crippling social illnesses afflicting young Belizeans.
Based on the holistic principle, youth programs and activities must bear on the interconnectedness of this cycle of development, particularly in critical areas of education, recreation, and personal development and employment training. We should aim to create positive youth development within a network of partnerships, inclusive of stakeholders in the overlapping spheres who work toward similar praiseworthy goals of developing and improving the human condition. This means involving parents every step of the way when possible. But we must be reminded that this means investment of time, money, commitment, and love.
One of the areas in our developing mass media I would like to see reinstituted and developed for our children, is a variation of the Children’s Corner that influenced, positively, many children over the years. At times we hear of particular agencies funneling significant grant money into intervention and treatment programs for our children—and this is good—but, why not invest money in the formative years of our children for them to enjoy a healthy lifestyle: both physical and psychological. Let’s hear the tempo of children’s music and reading programs on radio/TV networks that have mushroomed over the past decade.
If one is to judge from the commercials we view during the evening newscasts, businesses and other agencies spend considerable sums on advertisements. Given that businesses have become the primary targets for burglaries that on many occasions have resulted in deaths, doesn’t it make sense that they would be more than willing to contribute to the positive development of our young Belizeans through positive media programming?
Let’s reawaken our children to the tunes of “Fun Time in Belize”, and let’s begin modeling for our children positive attitudes using the powerful tool of mass communication that we currently employ mainly for projecting mirror images of not only negative, but horrific behavior, attitudes, and lifestyles.