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| The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance - John F. Kennedy |
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Banks: "The School Is Not A Battlefield" |
| Publishing date: 16.09.2005 10:12 |
Acting Chief Minister in Anguilla, Victor Banks, was the guest speaker at Campus A at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School during the assembly session on Wednesday morning.
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He was introduced to the students by Principal of the school, Darwin Hazel.
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Mr. Banks addressing students
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Banks, a past student and teacher at what was then the Valley Secondary School, told the students about some of the benefits of being winners and the negative results of being losers in the education process. One of the matters he stressed was the importance of good behaviour and he showed how violence could hamper both the school and misbehaving students.
“Over the last few months there has been concern over violence in the community and violence in our schools,” he continued. “I want to say to you that violence is a one-way street. That cycle of violence in a community and a society that have laws can cause you to end up in two places: the prison or the morgue. That cycle of violence does not achieve anything.
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Sections of students and teachers listening to Mr. Banks
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“It will not assist you in developing the tools for life. It just takes you down a path where you do not want to go. Weapons have no place in the school. This is not a battlefield. This is a school and you are here to be educated and to get the benefit of experienced teachers who have, over the years, turned out quality students into our communities.
“This cycle of violence builds cages because there are situations where somebody from The Valley cannot go to West End and somebody from West End cannot go to Blowing Point, so you are building your own cages. In terms of the violence in the schools, and the fact that some students make enemies within the schools, you are building mental cages for yourself because you are focusing on the negative things and you are locking yourself into them.
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Sections of students and teachers listening to Mr. Banks
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“We need to recognise that this leads to nowhere and young people have an opportunity to be winners. Therefore, let us all be winners. There is no need to be losers. Come to school, benefit from the education available and move forward.”
Earlier, Mr. Banks congratulated teachers and students at the school for the success achieved in the recent regional examinations.
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