Dennie Quill, Contributor

I was prompted to return to the subject of education for a second consecutive week after being struck by an item in the Caribbean news file. The report said Cubans will soon have American television dramas The Sopranos and Grey's Anatomy beamed into their living rooms courtesy of state-owned channels.

You may ask what does this have to do with education. Plenty I submit.

State selection

Cuba has long prided itself on being culturally sensitive by ensuring that television program-ming is weighted heavily towards education.

This meant that many programmes which are viewed all over the world were never aired in the communist country where there are four government-owned television stations as well as provincial stations.

In choosing these two dramas, the government said it had demonstrated the state's rigour in the selection of dramas of high ethical quality. If you have ever watched the murderous carry-ons of the New Jersey mafia in The Sopranos, you would under-stand that this is far from the truth.

Be that as it may, no one is happy about censorship and any attempt to proscribe what Jamaicans may read or watch or listen to would be met with uproar.

But, on the other side of the coin, unfettered access to satellite programmes can be blamed for a generation of blighted children whose early exposure to sex and violence has done irreparable damage to their development.

Reversing mis-education

Educators and administrators are now faced with the onerous task of reversing the mis-education of so many of our children. If we agree that some measure of control is necessary in order to help our children make the correct choices down the path to success, then the question is: Who should exercise this control?

Should it be the parent? Teachers? The Government? The Broadcasting Commission? Ministers of religion? Someone has to be in charge of that remote control or the computer switch.

Cuba has long been the envy of the region with its high levels of literacy, recorded in 1995 as being 96 per cent. There are some strategies that have worked for Cuba including free education and compulsory attendance for students aged six to 15, which we have tried but could not sustain. But before the regime tries to head down the slippery slope and lap up all that is American, parents may want to add caution and exercise control in their households.

Cuba has continued to ban satellite programmes and that is a very wise decision, I think. Despite the continued existence of an embargo, it won't be long before the wily marketers start to make their pitch.

A regime change in Washington may also see a more friendlier hand being stretched to Cuba.

Another reason why I have returned to the subject is the receipt of two interesting emails in response to last week's column.

Reaching those at risk

The first came from an artiste who shared my concern about the failing students in our school system.

He said: "It takes us all to rebuild the standard of education in our schools. That is why I wrote and recorded this song, Yuh Nuh Simple, as my contribution to the children of Jamaica, because, in my opinion, dropping out of school is also of grave concern."

The song can be downloaded at www.myspace.com/tonyanthonymusic

Then, another email made reference to an innovative programme called Boys Read, which has a distinct focus on the boys who are considered to be at greater risk of failing.

According to the founder, "Boys Read's mission is to transform boys into lifelong readers. We are an organisation of parents, educators, librarians, mentors, authors, and booksellers. A core objective of Boys Read is to establish reading tribes. Tribes are informal reading circles for pleasure and non-deterministic learning. They're very similar to book clubs. Tribes are a great opportunity to bond with boys. A tribe leader acts as a mentor and facilitator for the tribe. Parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, coaches, and other community outreach programmes and services organise tribes. Our website features many extraordinary authors who have published numerous compelling and gripping novels that boys love. For more information about Boys Read, visit our website, at boysread.org."

I commend these two sites to our students and hope some of them will visit.