Dear Editor,
It was with a great sense of disappointment that I read a letter by Bentley King under the headline 'Normal school not for teen baby mothers'. What was disappointing about it was that the author seemed to have wholeheartedly condemned every single teen who got pregnant. I wondered to myself, has he never made any error during his teenage years?
All of us, at that stage in our lives, were prone to making bad choices. Do we expect those bad choices to be used to determine our future?.
My sister got pregnant while she was in high school and had to leave the school. But for the good work of places like the Women's Centre, she was able to get her education back on track.
The writer asked whether the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) endorsed this proposed policy. Let me remind him that the JTA does not have responsibility for policies coming out of the ministry, and in this case the minister has the ultimate responsibility to make such a change.
I must say kudos as well to Opposition Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith for moving the motion in the Senate and to the minister for taking it on in a white paper. This is progress.
Of course, this will not fix the problem of teenage pregnancy, but it will give these persons a second chance at their education.
To say that this proposal gives teenage girls a licence to go out and become pregnant while in school is a fallacy and must be treated as such.
Ralston Chamberlain
Toronto, Ontario
Let the children play together
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It was with a great sense of disappointment that I read a letter by Bentley King under the headline 'Normal school not for teen baby mothers'. What was disappointing about it was that the author seemed to have wholeheartedly condemned every single teen who got pregnant. I wondered to myself, has he never made any error during his teenage years?
All of us, at that stage in our lives, were prone to making bad choices. Do we expect those bad choices to be used to determine our future?.
My sister got pregnant while she was in high school and had to leave the school. But for the good work of places like the Women's Centre, she was able to get her education back on track.
The writer asked whether the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) endorsed this proposed policy. Let me remind him that the JTA does not have responsibility for policies coming out of the ministry, and in this case the minister has the ultimate responsibility to make such a change.
I must say kudos as well to Opposition Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith for moving the motion in the Senate and to the minister for taking it on in a white paper. This is progress.
Of course, this will not fix the problem of teenage pregnancy, but it will give these persons a second chance at their education.
To say that this proposal gives teenage girls a licence to go out and become pregnant while in school is a fallacy and must be treated as such.
Ralston Chamberlain
Toronto, Ontario
Let the children play together
-->