Dear Editor,
The ongoing trend of cases involving attorneys being reported in the media has been causing quite a stir in the Jamaican society. Many in high and low places are expressing great disappointment at these practitioners of law.
In spite of what is happening, I would like to differ with the expectations of the society as far as attorney, doctors and other such professionals are concerned. For some reason, whenever people among us have acquired a degree in law, the society then proceeds to hold them on a very high pedestal of moral expectations and conduct which, is very unreasonable and ill-advised.
People with law degrees are automatically trusted to do the right thing at all times, are quickly promoted to leadership and influential positions within organisations including political parties and churches without due diligence, proper scrutinising and testing of their character and core values. This is a very sad practice and as the nation continues the downward moral spiral, we are being forced to wake up and smell the coffee.
There is nothing about the achievement of a law degree, or any other professional degree for that matter, that makes a person someone of pristine values -- at least, not in the present education process that focuses heavily on certification at the cost of character development. The issue can only be resolved by a genuine and honest revisiting of our education system in which these professionals were trained and developed. It is very clear to me that the current focus and one-sided approach of our education system on certification as opposed to character development is imploding right before our eyes as these professionals (not only lawyers) who are the products of our system proceed to fail us one by one. As far as I am concerned, in some way, it is not so much their fault. We did not pay attention to the development of their character.
Did we not pay attention to C S Lewis who instructed us that 'to educate a man without morals, though useful by itself, will only make him a more clever devil'? There is therefore a critical need for us to go beyond just mere devotions at our schools in the morning. As a nation, we have no other choice at this time but to acknowledge the need for a values-based education system that makes strategic character development a platform upon which learning and academic pursuits are conducted.
A commitment to building a values-based education system will also force us to take another look at the type of teachers and school leaders that are employed. A teacher or school leader can only have a moral impact on the school if his or her morals are worthy of emulation. It is time to act because the future of the nation is at stake.
Pastor Wesley C Boynes
President
Jamaica Independent Schools Association
wesley.boynes@jisajm.com
A law degree doesn't make one honourable
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The ongoing trend of cases involving attorneys being reported in the media has been causing quite a stir in the Jamaican society. Many in high and low places are expressing great disappointment at these practitioners of law.
In spite of what is happening, I would like to differ with the expectations of the society as far as attorney, doctors and other such professionals are concerned. For some reason, whenever people among us have acquired a degree in law, the society then proceeds to hold them on a very high pedestal of moral expectations and conduct which, is very unreasonable and ill-advised.
People with law degrees are automatically trusted to do the right thing at all times, are quickly promoted to leadership and influential positions within organisations including political parties and churches without due diligence, proper scrutinising and testing of their character and core values. This is a very sad practice and as the nation continues the downward moral spiral, we are being forced to wake up and smell the coffee.
There is nothing about the achievement of a law degree, or any other professional degree for that matter, that makes a person someone of pristine values -- at least, not in the present education process that focuses heavily on certification at the cost of character development. The issue can only be resolved by a genuine and honest revisiting of our education system in which these professionals were trained and developed. It is very clear to me that the current focus and one-sided approach of our education system on certification as opposed to character development is imploding right before our eyes as these professionals (not only lawyers) who are the products of our system proceed to fail us one by one. As far as I am concerned, in some way, it is not so much their fault. We did not pay attention to the development of their character.
Did we not pay attention to C S Lewis who instructed us that 'to educate a man without morals, though useful by itself, will only make him a more clever devil'? There is therefore a critical need for us to go beyond just mere devotions at our schools in the morning. As a nation, we have no other choice at this time but to acknowledge the need for a values-based education system that makes strategic character development a platform upon which learning and academic pursuits are conducted.
A commitment to building a values-based education system will also force us to take another look at the type of teachers and school leaders that are employed. A teacher or school leader can only have a moral impact on the school if his or her morals are worthy of emulation. It is time to act because the future of the nation is at stake.
Pastor Wesley C Boynes
President
Jamaica Independent Schools Association
wesley.boynes@jisajm.com
A law degree doesn't make one honourable
-->