What about the kids, Dr Heatley?

A husband is recently married and vows to be there for his wife through it all. He says “I do” and they are in a committed relationship. 

However, seven months pass and reality starts to set in, and he gets word that another woman may be interested in him. 

This ‘committed’ married man now goes on dates with this other woman. When confronted by his wife he states that he didn’t seek out the other woman, and that despite the fact that he’s going on dates and flirting with this other woman, he’s still committed? Ladies, would you accept that? Is this husband committed?

Now that he knows that you know about the other woman, he decides not to pursue her any longer. Does that make him committed? I say not. It’s clear to Ray Charles on a cloudy day that this man is not committed.

Similarly, Bermuda has just been the victim of an educational and professional infidelity. Dr Edmond Heatley was recently appointed as the top man for education in Bermuda. Only seven months down the road, he claims things weren’t going great and so he interviewed for another job. 

Bermuda, this is our children’s education that we are talking about. Education of the youth is paramount to the success and longevity of our island home. After what happened in this situation, trying to convince the youth of Bermuda that Dr Heatley is committed or the right man for the job is like trying to nail jelly to a wall — it’s not going to happen! What message did he send to the youth? “When the going gets tough, get gone.”

Whatever the cost of education, the price is cheap compared to that of an uneducated country. For the past two years, government scholarship funds allocated to kids looking to pursue a further education abroad have been cut significantly. The reason given for cutting back on the educational scholarship funds was due to the downturn in the economic climate. I do not agree with that reasoning. In tough times, it should be the paramount objective of our leaders to groom a generation of educated young people to assist in getting us out of this very difficult situation. Invest in the youth, the youth are the future. 

Kids don’t always remember what you try to teach them; they do, however, always remember what you show them in your actions. This government has shown us, the youth of Bermuda, that they will no longer invest as much in our future education but they will invest hundreds of thousands in a non-Bermudian Commissioner of Education who has, in a very short time-span, shown that he isn’t committed to the children; and doesn’t have the support of the principals.

Even if the statements and sentiments regarding certain issues are valid, it seems easy for this government to dismiss and ignore them if they come from a political source, especially the Opposition. However, can this government, with a clear conscience, look the youth of Bermuda in the eye and tell them: “No, we will not help you”?

Yolanda Adams once famously sang the question; and today youth of Bermuda ask “What about the children”?

Eron Hill, an 18-year-old former member of Bermuda’s Youth Parliament and the Bermuda National Debate Team, is now an aspiring lawyer and legal understudy working at Compass Law Chambers under the tutelage of local barrister and attorney Charles Richardson.

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