Though Ruth Young called time on her formal career in 1985, after more than 40 years in the classroom, the teaching bug remains and, even today, children still gather at her feet for lessons.

"I was and am still a teacher. I taught for 42 years here, then I went to the Cayman Islands to my son and spent a further three years in the classroom," the 85-year-old Young told The Gleaner.

"I taught in 12 schools in St Thomas, including Morant Bay High School. The Lord blessed me with the gift of teaching," Young added.

Born Ruth Geohagan in 1923, Young was drawn to teaching after being introduced to a group of teachers who boarded with her mother in Middleton, St Thomas.

"I loved the teachers, and especially one teacher at Middleton Elementary School who exposed us to drama, speech and music," said Young.

Mother to all

Today, Young is on the board of the Middleton Basic School and a mother to all the children who attend the institution.

"I have eight children of my own but so many of the other children who have passed through my hands I consider mine," she said.

"I help everybody in this community and, even when I was in the classroom, I could not be like some of the teachers who were not concerned about the children. I thought about the whole development of the child; if the child has clothing, is properly fed or in need of anything," added the former English teacher.

But despite her love for teaching, Young said the indiscipline in schools today would cause her to avoid the classroom.

"Even if I was younger, I would not want to teach now. It is so different now and it is all because the children lack parental control," she said.

"Only yesterday I was asking why parents are afraid of their children when Proverbs says the rod should not be spared," Young added, as she recounted the occasions when she had to punish her children.

Today, she is very involved in her backyard garden, but still has time for any child who needs "a little help with their lessons".