A Trinidad and Tobago mother is questioning why a Play Whe chart appears in her son’s Primary School Social Studies book after discovering it while reviewing his schoolbooks.
The mother raised the concern while going through Children and Today’s Social Studies for Primary School Book 3, which she identified as being written by Kevin Geneville and costing $120.
According to her, she decided to sit down and examine the books after collecting her son’s booklist and purchasing his school supplies. While going through the Social Studies book, she reached page 49 and encountered what she described as a Play Whe chart.
“If somebody can tell me why my son or anybody’s child needs to know about Play Whe, I will be very thankful,” she said.
The mother, who openly identified herself as a Christian, questioned the educational purpose of introducing primary school children to material associated with Play Whe, a legal numbers game in Trinidad and Tobago.
She acknowledged that children may eventually encounter gambling and other difficult aspects of society but rejected the argument that their existence alone is sufficient reason for presenting them to young students without proper context.
The mother compared the issue to other social problems children may hear about, including murder and human trafficking, arguing that schools would not simply introduce those subjects without explaining their consequences.
Her main concern appeared to be how Play Whe was being presented.
She argued that if gambling-related material is included as part of a lesson about Trinidad and Tobago society or culture, children should also be taught about the potential negative consequences of gambling.
“Gambling is something wrong and very immoral that destroys family, that destroys family homes,” she said.
She also argued that something being legal does not automatically settle the question of whether or how it should be introduced to young children in an educational setting.
The mother continued examining the book during her video, saying she expected there might be additional information providing further context for what she had found.
Her comments represent her personal interpretation and concerns about the material. The full context of page 49, including the lesson being taught, the accompanying explanations and the educational objective behind the Play Whe chart, would be necessary to determine precisely why it was included.
The concern nevertheless raises a broader question about how schools introduce young students to potentially sensitive aspects of Trinidad and Tobago society and whether such topics should also be accompanied by discussions about their possible social consequences.
Article and image source: tiktok.com
