To me the real frightening aspect of the "child labour" syndrome is the collusion by these oh so willing parents who "probably" don't realize that they are indeed prostituting their progeny. There are parents who merrily cart their children around from band to band. Well of course the more bands they play for is the more money the children make and more than that the less money the parents have to fork out to mind the child. I am quite certain that these young crackshots don't believe they are doing anything wrong since their parents clearly see nothing wrong with what they are doing. For some parents I suppose they are living their childhood dreams through their children...Who knows?
As much as my PARDNER (Aquil) says that he is offering EDUCATION -- this was the first piece of PAN EDUCATION I ever received on this forum (I have to admit that WST has offered me a lot of WORLD MUSIC EDUCATION -- but that is a different discussion).
Ah spend the whole day pondering that PASSAGE and it really open my eyes and linked my thinking to the GENERAL CULTURE OF CORRUPTION IN THE MECCA. And made me ask myself: What the hell I am I doing thinking that I could make a difference in PAN PROGRESS in the MECCA?
I might be better of spending my time in THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT in SAN FRANCISCO (The Tenderloin) diseases included -- than wasting my time forgetting about the NATIVE CORRUPTION that permeates all aspects of LIFE IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO.
Maybe MERRYTONES to the WHATEVER should be the next EDUCATION OFFICER of PAN TRINBAGO because the man sure EDUCATE ME!!!
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odw: When merrytonestothebone first brought up his CRACK SHOT complaint years ago, I envisioned about 200 PAN MEN in their 20's and 30's selling their skills to different bands. And I looked at it as an enhancement more so than an epidemic.
But now that he painted a clearer picture: It is just ANOTHER GRAND HUSTLE from school children up to grand fathers.
If the CIP had any POLITICAL SKILLLS whatsoever they would have brought this PANORAMA 2018 to a screeching halt forcing a major restructuring of the event starting in 2019 and bringing integrity to the "COMPETITION".
Nothing is about to change: Not the HATE CRIMES; not the Beetham; not the murders; not the soldiers executing crimes for the government; and certainly not all the across-the-two-islands CORRUPTION!!!
So you are right: I had a come to JESUS (CORRUPTION) MOMENT!!!
Qdw,my "come to Jesus " moment came a long time ago, when I realized that panorama steelbands were dominated by women and children players , unlike in the old days when the bands were mostly young men.
And I came to realize that it was because of the demands of the Panorama.
I strongly believe that if I were a young man today , I would have been reluctant to sacrifice my whole carnival season basically practicing one tune , and it is highly likely I wouldn't have been as involved with the steelband.
In the old days , we had enough time to practice and still enjoy carnival activities , but today's panorama is far too demanding, so as a young man I may have declined participation.
So , though I hesitate to use the expression "child labor" , the impact of children on the steelband is enormous , and this is a discussion worth having.
A case could be made that the availability of young players affects the role and importance of adult players , and their ability to negotiate for compensation.
This is why I would like to free the carnival from panorama ,and allow adult pan players to develop and exploit musical opportunities as entrepreneurs at carnival time , which should be prime time for steelbands.
As far as I'm concerned , government funded panorama money will be there , regardless of when the panorama is held , and , if panorama is seen as a national cultural event , say during school vacation time , youthful participation cannot be seen as an issue.
PARENTS have to STOP pimping their kids in steelbands, next ting yuh know you'll be paying pan-pushers for their labour.
What is this, a come to Jesus moment???
Old folks used to say something like this, SEE and don't SEE, HEAR and don't HEAR and SPEAK but don't SPEAK.
Eye say be an advocate for the CHANGE movement...