Parents, Teenage mothers need to be trained

17.JUN.11

Editor: For quite some time now our newspapers have been reporting about sexual offences committed by adults against children. This shameful act, I am certain, angers many decent Vincentians both here and abroad. In our anger, many are calling for severe punishment to these adults, and rightly so.{{more}}

However, we have a responsibility as parents to ensure that the girls are properly educated against the evils of such an act. It means that the home must be a place where discipline is practiced, unlike some homes where their children have no control or discipline. It is indeed sad that children are allowed to leave home without parental consent or even guidelines. Many children can be seen liming in and around Kingstown at odd hours. Where are the parents when these things are taking place? Is it that parents are not concerned or could not be bothered?

I strongly recommend that parents be locked up for negligence when children are allowed to have sexual intercourse with someone just for money or when they allow their children to be out for odd hours. Surely, some rules and guidelines must be placed in the home. Failure to do so can lead to serious consequences like rape, sexual looseness. Bearing in mind that sometimes these sexual acts committed by some men are as a result of some relationship that was developed by the child and the adult. Then when this happens, who is to be blamed? Many times we should blame the parents. Thus I emphasize the need to have training for parents, especially amongst teenage mothers.

The music that is played on the radio also contributes to the decay in the moral standards and the rise of sexual looseness. The smutty songs that are allowed to be played on the airwaves and in the homes are indeed a contributing factor. It is time that parents have some moral standards and be a role model. It is sickening the amount of smutty music that is allowed on the radio. No wonder we have become a nation that takes pleasure in sexual looseness. Then tell me how can we blame our children for becoming pregnant as a teenager and become sexually active while still a child, when these songs are entertained by the parents and played in the home? How can we minimize or eradicate this sexual looseness when as parents we send the children to these shows that promote such sexual looseness through the songs.

Finally, the way some ladies and men dress is so shameful. It contributes to the moral decay of society. Then how can we be angry with such a passion when ladies expose themselves so publicly and men do the same as well?

It is time we wake up and take a stock of our practice. It is time that some regulations be put in place to ensure that those smutty songs are not played on the radios, and when they don’t then it will discouraged the artiste from singing such songs. Whereas when they are played on radios and are accepted by society then it encourages the artiste to sing these songs. It is also time for us as Vincentians to take pride in ourselves and dress decently and clothe our children in decent clothing. After all, it is the character of the person that is more important than the clothes that are worn, but the way some people dress in an outrageous way is a reflection of what is inside.

Thank you.

Kennard King