Dear Editor,
Once again the nation is suffering another knee-jerk reaction. The murders for 2014 have already exceeded 100 and, as usual, we begin to call for the heads of the minister of security and the commissioner of police.
I long for a time when we will show the same type of upset and lash out at the relevant authorities when a parent/adult abuses a child; the same type of fury when a child who lacks proper parental supervision commits a crime. I hope we display the same bitterness when a policeman is brutally murdered or a teacher is beaten by parents or thugs. For far too long we have sat and watched as crime and other negatives escalate.
All of the criminals in Jamaica have parents. So instead of focusing so heavily on equipping our policemen and women with resources such as body cameras which cost enough to feed a family of four for a whole month, let us consider equipping parents with better parenting skills through education and training. Let us start attacking and solving problems at their root and resist the urge to use cosmetics that only act as a bandage.
The good book says "train up a child in way he should go..." so I'm sure it won't hurt for parents to return to the practice of parenting and teaching their children positive values and morals. Let us return to a time when doing the right thing was the right thing to do.
Antonio Atkinson
antoniorgatkinson@yahoo.com
Off with their heads?... use our heads
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Once again the nation is suffering another knee-jerk reaction. The murders for 2014 have already exceeded 100 and, as usual, we begin to call for the heads of the minister of security and the commissioner of police.
I long for a time when we will show the same type of upset and lash out at the relevant authorities when a parent/adult abuses a child; the same type of fury when a child who lacks proper parental supervision commits a crime. I hope we display the same bitterness when a policeman is brutally murdered or a teacher is beaten by parents or thugs. For far too long we have sat and watched as crime and other negatives escalate.
All of the criminals in Jamaica have parents. So instead of focusing so heavily on equipping our policemen and women with resources such as body cameras which cost enough to feed a family of four for a whole month, let us consider equipping parents with better parenting skills through education and training. Let us start attacking and solving problems at their root and resist the urge to use cosmetics that only act as a bandage.
The good book says "train up a child in way he should go..." so I'm sure it won't hurt for parents to return to the practice of parenting and teaching their children positive values and morals. Let us return to a time when doing the right thing was the right thing to do.
Antonio Atkinson
antoniorgatkinson@yahoo.com
Off with their heads?... use our heads
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