At a time when negative headlines have dominated local newspapers and our lone television channel, four students from the Reynold Weekes Primary have warmed the hearts of a country.
Nathan Leon Blackman, his twin sister Natalia Leon Blackman along with their cousin Jaquon Blackman and Jerome Forde are Barbados’ newest heroes.
The quartet was publicly recognized for their actions after they returned a wallet which they found on their way home from school.
“The wallet was returned to the owner because it was the right thing to do and plus we saw that a lot of money was in it and maybe he had bills to pay,” was the reason given by Jaquon for returning the property.
They were deservingly praised for their decision to turn the wallet - which contained $140 - over to a snack vendor.
The young children, who ranged in ages from eight to nine-years-old, were fittingly rewarded by their school for their good deed.
Amidst all of the celebrations, their parents must be beaming with pride.
Just when it seemed as though young people were only being highlighted for murders and in the court section, the actions of those students brought a breath of fresh air to a country that had become accustomed to ‘bad news’.
Not too long ago, Ayra Newton, a student at the Princess Margaret Secondary School, was also lauded for her actions after she walked away from a fight.
That incident, which was recorded and circulated on social media showed Newton turning and walking in the opposite direction away from a bully who taunted her verbally and even shoved her in her back.
On that occasion, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation saw it fit to honour Newton by naming her Barbados’ first ever Peace Ambassador.
“As a Peace Ambassador now I have to set an example for the younger children and the elderly people too… Now I have to carry myself because I have the title, I have the crown,” Newton said during the ceremony.
Those words brought tears to her mother’s eyes.
More often than not, young children in those scenarios find it much easier to do the wrong thing.
Quite frequently, videos are circulated of school children fighting, cursing or being disrespectful to one another.
In a scary incident, one student even set fire to another student’s hair.
These acts of kindness and courageousness should serve as the perfect example to parents that they should never give up on their children, no matter how dire the situation may appear to be.
A lack of good parenting has been blamed for the increase in deviancy among youth.
It has been proven that providing incentives to young people motivates positive behaviour.
The Incentive Theory is one of the major theories of motivation and suggests that behavior is motivated by a desire for reinforcement or incentives.
The theory proposes that not only children, but also people are pulled toward behaviors that lead to rewards and pushed away from actions that might lead to negative consequences.
Now this is not to say that the only reason those children, or any children for that matter, would do what is right only because of a reward.
In fact, the young boy who found the wallet said he had returned it because he had been taught to be honest by his mother.
“When I got to school today everybody asking ‘where you find the wallet?’ But my mom always told me to always do the right thing.
“My mom always tell me to be honest because it is good to be honest and you can have good luck because if you do good things, good would always follow you,” Jaquon said.
However, when doing the wrong thing sometimes is the easiest choice, when children choose to do the right thing it should not go by unheralded.
The post #BTEditorial – The thanks of a grateful nation appeared first on Barbados Today.
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