The long-running concern about sexually explicit and violent music on privately operated public service vehicles has resurfaced, this time raised by independent candidate Steffanie Williams, who is calling on the government to intervene in what she sees as a growing contributor to social decay and classroom indiscipline.
Williams, who contested the St James North by-election in May, was visibly upset in a video posted to social media earlier this week, in which she condemned the type of content frequently heard blaring from minibuses and ZRs.
The former candidate argued that both children and adults were being exposed to lewd, aggressive music with little to no regulation, despite repeated warnings from citizens and advocates over the years.
In a follow-up interview with Barbados TODAY, Williams stressed that her concern was not new but one that continues to be ignored.
“My concern is the fact that we have private public transportation and, traversing on them, the music that is playing is sexual and violence-inciting [and the] majority of the time, we have our children travelling on these vehicles,” she said.
“Yes, we know that they may opt not to catch the Transport Board bus and to get the minibus or ZRs. At the end of the day, this is a public service, and even adults shouldn’t have to be subjected to the kind of nasty music that some of these people are playing.”
The issue of content regulation on privately operated transport has come up repeatedly over the years, with several stakeholders and members of the public all calling for stricter enforcement.
However, according to Williams, the authorities have failed to take meaningful action.
She revealed that she had raised the matter directly with the Minister of Educational Transformation, Chad Blackman, during the by-election campaign earlier this year.
“During the by-election in May, I spoke to the Minister Chad Blackman, and we spoke a little about transportation and wellness in schools and stuff like that. He said we would sit down and have a chat, but we’ve never been able to do that, and that’s not a problem, but the issue I raised has not been addressed, and that is the concern,” Williams said.
She linked the exposure to inappropriate music on the way to school to problems that teachers face once students enter the classroom.
“When these children get to school, teachers already have to spend time getting them settled in order to do a lesson. That is not good enough. Then they have to deal with the other behaviours,” Williams said, noting that parents are often blamed for the behaviour of their children. (SM)
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