Williams maintains that lewd music contributes to school violence

By Nakinskie Robinson    

 

Education Minister Fayval Williams is defending her position that lewd music could be contributing to an increase in school violence.  

 

The minister made the correlation during Wednesday's sectoral debate in the House of Representatives.

 

But shadow minister Damion Crawford has thrown cold water on that view.

 

Responding in a thread on social media platform X, Mr. Crawford questioned whether there was enough evidence to support a strong correlation between music and violent actions.

 

He argued that academic research has identified some underlying push factors, which exclude music.

 

Mr. Crawford contended that if the government has the wrong diagnosis it will apply the wrong treatment.

 

He further argued that the separation of music from movies, video games, comics and cartoons with violent themes is clear evidence of bias.

 

But Minister Williams insists there is sufficient evidence to support her claim.  

 

"The point I was making is that how our children show up at school is a function of what is happening in the environment. I go into many schools, I speak with students, I speak with teachers. And yes, while we have not done that scientific research, research exists anecdotally," she said, noting that class teachers observe their students daily. 

 

"You cannot divorce what it's happening in homes and in communities from what happens when the children get to school," the minister maintained as she spoke Thursday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106FM. 

 

Mrs. Williams also expressed concern about a lack of boundaries being established between some parents and their children.

 

She said it is critical that parents and guardians understand the role that the environment plays in determining outcome for a child.

 

In light of this, she said the ministry's parent training programme, aimed at improving parental practices, is a critical component. 

 

"We were able to reach over 81,000 parents so far. Our goal is to reach 100,000 parents. And we've been able to have these sessions with parents. Early days yet in terms of understanding the impact of it or evaluating the impact, but we know that this is a programme that we will need to sustain over a long period of time to get the changes to be cemented into the homes," she acknowledged.