Dear Editor,
It was with great alarm that I read the front page story of the Sunday Observer on March 16, 2014 about the mother of convicted murderer Vybz Kartel defending her son and calling for his release.
We are mothers, too, and on some level we can understand Teresa Palmer's pain. Unfortunately, Vybz Kartel's mother seems to be in denial.
Mothers like this are all that is wrong with Jamaica. Many mothers do not know the difference between "protecting" their children and "enabling" their children's bad behaviour. Some know that their sons are involved in immorality and criminality but make excuses for them. They instead blame everyone and everything else for the actions and subsequent downfall, rather than placing the blame where it squarely belongs. Miss Palmer herself admits that she listens to her son's music. Is she trying to say that she believes the lyrics he utters are edifying and uplifting?
We cry down the women of the ghetto who come out on the streets and beg for their criminal men and sons, but Miss Palmer is no different. She may not be out there in the streets bearing a placard that yells "Free my son" but that is in effect what she is doing. I guess supporters of criminality come from good homes too.
We wonder why our beautiful country is in the state that it is in. Jamaica used to be a place where if a man committed a crime and his mother knew about it, she would grab him by the ears and take him to the police station herself. Now we are a country in decay. Women, mothers, stop and assess yourselves. Your sons are not angels. Take off the rose-coloured glasses and face the facts.
Tanison Scott
Kingston
Mothers must not enable their children's ill deeds
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It was with great alarm that I read the front page story of the Sunday Observer on March 16, 2014 about the mother of convicted murderer Vybz Kartel defending her son and calling for his release.
We are mothers, too, and on some level we can understand Teresa Palmer's pain. Unfortunately, Vybz Kartel's mother seems to be in denial.
Mothers like this are all that is wrong with Jamaica. Many mothers do not know the difference between "protecting" their children and "enabling" their children's bad behaviour. Some know that their sons are involved in immorality and criminality but make excuses for them. They instead blame everyone and everything else for the actions and subsequent downfall, rather than placing the blame where it squarely belongs. Miss Palmer herself admits that she listens to her son's music. Is she trying to say that she believes the lyrics he utters are edifying and uplifting?
We cry down the women of the ghetto who come out on the streets and beg for their criminal men and sons, but Miss Palmer is no different. She may not be out there in the streets bearing a placard that yells "Free my son" but that is in effect what she is doing. I guess supporters of criminality come from good homes too.
We wonder why our beautiful country is in the state that it is in. Jamaica used to be a place where if a man committed a crime and his mother knew about it, she would grab him by the ears and take him to the police station herself. Now we are a country in decay. Women, mothers, stop and assess yourselves. Your sons are not angels. Take off the rose-coloured glasses and face the facts.
Tanison Scott
Kingston
Mothers must not enable their children's ill deeds
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