The new Catholic Brothers at our school are doing some
interesting things. They are very strict and very … corporal with their
punishment. And very liberal with their corporal punishment. But they are
trying things that haven’t been done before at our school, which is really
cool.
One of the brothers is working with the Religious and Moral
Education classes. Every learner has this class once a week, and they are
supposed to learn about a variety of different religions and moral codes. The
brother has decided to skip out on the other religions, since we are a Catholic
school. Do I agree? Definitely not. But, he is spending the time instead
talking with the kids about moral behaviour. Things like self-discipline,
self-control. Which I definitely agree with! This week, the kids had homework
asking “Name 5 reasons that violence is so high in Namibia” and “Suggest 5
solutions to decrease violence in Namibia.” This is really cool, and I love
that the kids are being encouraged to think about it!
However, my take on these issues is totally different from
theirs. If you ask me, it would be things like culture, because kids are raised
with hitting and violence from a young age. A lack of understanding of how to
discuss and solve problems peacefully. Maybe we could try mediation programs.
Or training for parents and teachers on how to raise kids with rewards and
nonviolent punishments. My kids give different answers though! They tell me
that violence is caused by unfaithful partners, high teen pregnancy rates, and
HIV. The solutions? birth control, being faithful to the people you love, stay
in school. Which aren’t necessarily wrong, but I honestly think that they have
just been told these things so often that they now have go-to solutions for
every problem in Namibia.
Having Brothers working at our school is a big change from
last year, and really interesting for me personally because I was not raised
super religiously! (or religiously at all…) Although I definitely don’t like
the fact that religion is brought into EVERY aspect of life now, I find myself
aligning with the brothers more often than not. They are doing their best to
bring our kids around to be honest and hard working. Even if I don’t
necessarily agree with how they go
about doing this, we can already see changes in our learners. They have become
a little more serious with their work at school; though it’s not everyone, some
of them are truly improving since last year, and I am hopeful that this will,
however slowly, turn our school around!
