The children are listening

ASSOCIATE Professor and director/co-ordinator of the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Dr Launcelot Brown yesterday warned that the uncouth behaviour and conduct of some radio talk-show hosts can influence the intellectual and personal mindset of impressionable listeners — children.

The warning comes at a time when the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) engages in several public consultations over the broadcast code which partly seeks to protect children, by establishing a watershed period for adult broadcasting and the regular issuance of warnings before potential offensive material is aired.

Addressing scores of principals, vice-principals, educators and teachers at Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s yesterday, at the start of a three-day conference entitled “Engaging Our at-Risk Children”, Brown said, “Children give legitimacy to what they hear on radio especially if their parents also listen to these shows.”

He referred to an unnamed local talk-show host who, during a call-in programme, told the caller in a loud voice to “shut-up!” and that he (the caller) was talking nonsense. Brown explained that such behaviour demonstrated an unwillingness to respect other people’s opinion which can be imitated by students and brought into the school environment.

He further added that some radio DJs on-air behaviour and the choice of music they play also impacts on young people especially students who, listening to oft times anti-social lyrics, agree with the themes of the songs they hear and use the excuse of “that is we culture”, to defend their behaviour and beliefs.

During his address, Brown stated that “at risk students” included an urban poor child, children from single parent families and children from homes with low maternal education. He however stated that while these factors are associations of student achievement, they do not indicate the cause.

The conference is organised by the School Leadership Centre in conjunction with the RBTT Bank Education Foundation.