The Editor, Sir:

Jamaica is known as a Christian country but it seems that we have lost our way and as a nation is sinking deeper and deeper into immorality. Easter is traditionally a time of reflection on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in some countries some people even re-enact the entire scenario. Today, however, there is competition to have carnival, which is not even indigenous to the Jamaica culture, on Easter Sunday. We frown upon our own dancehall culture yet we embrace the revelling and almost nude displays during carnival. Then we wonder what has happened to our children, why they are behaving as lewdly as they do. They are simply displaying the diet of immorality fed to them by the double standards held by adults in our society. We need to lead by example the kind of lifestyle we want our children to emulate.

TEACHING PROPER VALUES

We need as a society to go back to the basics of teaching our teenagers proper values and attitudes and having pride in and respect for themselves but this must be a concerted effort not just by parents or teachers but the society as a whole.

Giving condoms to children in school is not the solution to the problem, either. This is like putting a band-aid on an open sore. We need to address the root of the problem which is our own (im)morality and make a concerted effort not just as parents or teachers but as a society, with everyone working together to insist on proper values and conduct from our teenagers.

I am, etc.,

J. ROBINSON

iriejean2kool@yahoo.com

Teacher