Good news

THE project referred to as “satisfaction bell” of the Philippine National Police, which is slowly implemented throughout the country, urges citizens who have had help from the Police to ring a bell that’s installed near the door of each Police office in towns and cities. Imagine it ringing while the town takes note of it.

Yes, the choice of the use of bells as comments on the police service is creative. To me it’s like the town or city listening to good news, not just news about indolent men in uniform failing to preserve peace in the community.

If there were satisfaction bells in police stations when you were young back in the old hometown, it would not have been life-changing but it would have made a difference in people’s trust in the Police.

And I connect the idea of bells with children and their notion of life, their impressions of jobs as they grow up into what they dream to become.

Although it’s the adults who are expected to ring the bell which is installed at the police office door (like in the Talisay City police office), if and when they experience satisfaction over police service in the barangay, the children would also be motivated to have trust in police action in the towns and cities of their birth.

Would young boys dream to become policemen?

One day as I flipped the TV remote from one station to another, I came across singing and dancing contests for children in shows such as Talentadong Pinoy Kids and Little Miss Philippines. With this, I’ve discovered something interesting about children 7 years old or below whose parents want them to become entertainers. More than one of the young boys I saw in a couple of week’s shows said they wanted to become police officers.

I caught the reaction of the program host in one instance, introducing into the singing tilt a six-year-old boy contestant. The little one didn’t say he wanted to be a doctor or a boat captain. The program host probably expected the boy to say, “I want to be a TV star.” But the boy said he was going to be a policeman.

The Satisfaction Bell of the National Police could encourage adults to take a second look at the Police and take extra time to ring police bells when it’s worth it.

With the help of the parents, the effect of the Police effort to let more people know the good news about them would go far in terms of telling children that a pulis does win work points in serving his community. In fact, a fair idea of police work should be appreciated by the adults because there are still more good policemen in our life.

We could tell this to the children by ringing that bell.

There was a survey undertaken some months ago by ChildFund Alliance of 4,600 children throughout the world in Asia (including the Philippines), Africa, also the Americas. The biggest number of the children who were asked what they dream of becoming in their adult life are those who want to be teachers. The next highest number want to be doctors. And the third highest number of the children surveyed in both developed and undeveloped countries want to be policemen.

In developed countries, most kids want to become athletes, singers and actors.

The idea of using a bell whenever citizens hear of or actually experience the good things the police have done could work for the community.

And I think bells attract children.

The idea of bells go a long way back in time and through the years came the sound of bells in a man’s life. The sound of bells has a charm that captures a child’s heart. Even as it also warns, it appeals, it’s enchanting. Take the Children’s Bell Tower in Bodega Bay in California which is 18 feet tall and where hung 140 bells one of which Pope John Paul II blessed while it was still in the foundry.

And there is good news in the sound of bells, especially when it’s called satisfaction bell which is all about the services of the Police which are less talked about. I think most of the policemen are trying their best to serve the way they’re expected to serve, or else, why would small boys still want to be policemen?

(ecuizon@gmail.com)