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Mar 07, 2025 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists
Kaieteur News- Dem boys seh dat school bell ringing like alarm clock for everybody, but some a dem just hitting snooze button till kingdom come. Long time ago, if yuh late fuh school, yuh name go down in dat big book of shame, and three strikes mean yuh writing lines till yuh hand cramp up. “I must be punctual”—oops, yuh spell “punctual” wrong? More lines fuh yuh! Dem days, punctuality was king, and lateness was a one-way ticket to detention. But nowadays, ah wah really gwan? Students and teachers alike playing hide-and-seek with time, and is like nobody eh care no more.
Dem boys seh dat some children nowadays treating school like a buffet line. Dem stop fuh egg ball, cassava ball, and maybe even a snow cone ’fore dey even think ’bout stepping foot in de classroom. And when dey finally reach, is like dey strolling in like dey on vacation—no hurry, no worry. Meanwhile, de school bell ringing like it having a fit, but dem children deaf to de sound of punctuality. Dem boys seh dat if lateness was an Olympic sport, some a dem children would be gold medalists by now.
But wait! Dem late-coming students getting stiff competition from de very people who supposed to be setting de example—de teachers! Yes, dem boys seh dat some teachers now rolling up late like dey own time run on a different clock. And is not like dey running late, nah—dey driving late. Car park full, and dem teachers stepping out like dey just finish a Sunday drive. Dem boys seh dat if de school had a latecomers’ hall of fame, it would be packed with both students and teachers, all smiling like dey just win de lottery.
But who gon’ put de teachers in detention? Dem boys seh dat de principal might have to start a latecomers’ book fuh de staffroom too. Imagine dis: “Mr. Teacher, you late three times dis week. Report to detention after school and write ‘I must set a good example for my students’ 100 times.” And if he spell “example” wrong, double de lines! But dem boys seh dat de teachers would probably just form a union and strike against detention.
In de end, is like lateness become de new normal. Students late, teachers late, and de only one on time is de school bell—and even dat eh getting no respect. Dem boys seh dat maybe de school should just start later, so everybody could come late together and call it “fashionably on time.” But until den, de race against time continues, and de only winners are de egg ball and cassava ball vendors.
So, to all yuh latecomers out there—students and teachers alike—dem boys seh yuh better watch out. De bell might be ringing, but sooner or later, time gon’ catch up with all yuh. And when it do, de only lines yuh gon’ be writing is “I must respect de clock.” Punctual or not, de choice is yours!
Talk half. Leff half.
(Students and teachers in a race against time)
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