I remember when school was a refuge

I remember when school was respected

I remember when school was discerning

I remember when teachers gave and received

respect

I remember when neither teachers nor students

used cell phones in class or during class time

I remember when students were punished and

they stayed punished with no retaliation in mind

I remember when parents respected themselves,

teachers and school

I remember when parents did not show up at

school half naked, with vulgarity, with guns or

any form of disrespect

I remember when girls took pride in themselves

and would never be seen wearing uniforms that

were too short or wearing clean uniforms with

dirty belts not to mention those long socks,

water boot style, they should all be on the farm

where water boots belong.

I remember when schoolgirls behaved like young

ladies instead of women of the night. Would a young

lady pull her blouse sleeves up to expose her shoulders,

or wear false eyelashes, or wear false nails, or wear false

hair, or wear multicoloured accessories to school, or be

lifting their skirts in public claiming that they

are pulling down their blouses? no, no young lady would

ever do those things.

I remember when boys behaved like young men

and the few who did not respect authority still stayed in line out

of fear of it. Now schoolboys are dressing like sex workers,

bleaching their faces, processing their hair, wearing pants

that expose their rear and are too tight for them to even

sit, and those big fashionable belts belong in a dancehall

or club, not school.

I remember when the rules that were made in schools had

to be adhered to by teachers and students.

- Lisa Williams