Garth Rattray SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS Anglican Priest the Rev. Canon Ernle Gordon, recently stated that, "We have to educate people in terms of sexuality". He said that homosexual tendencies are prevalent within our schools and that there needed to be tolerance for the different forms of human sexuality. Rev. Canon Gordon even wants homosexuality taught from as early as the preparatory school level.
I know that he means well but I don't agree that homosexual tendencies are rampant throughout our schools. Furthermore, I believe that teaching homosexuality is insular and gauche, instead, we need to focus on tolerance in general. Learning to appreciate each other's human rights will encompass religion, politics, the social class structure, ethnicity, sexuality and much more.
Our society is currently threatened with far greater problems than homosexual issues. All this talk about repealing the buggery law and teaching homosexuality in schools is not without some merit, however, given the social atmosphere in Jamaica and the taboo nature of same-sex relationships, it would constitute political suicide for any government to accede to calls for either. Putting forward such proposals for the next five or ten years is a waste of time. Instead, we need to concentrate on more socially pressing matters like the psychosocial and socio-economic circumstances that lead to crime and violence. We need to promulgate respect for and charity towards others.
To this end we can invest in our children and through them, influence adults in a positive way. The passing of vital information or stories from one generation to the next, it is called Vertical Transmission (you may be more familiar with the term as it regards the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases from a pregnant, delivering or breast-feeding female to her child). I believe that we can employ Vertical Transmission in reverse, wherein the young, imbued with tolerance, respect and understanding, will pass positive concepts on to their parents. If we can succeed in instilling desirable virtues in the young then perhaps we can transmit them to the older generation. Perhaps, through the little children, we can influence adults to heed the call for a peaceful coexistence.
ALL LIFE IS SACRED
We need to teach our children that all life is sacred. They should be taught that they will have no future if things continue in this vein. We ought to employ them in the fight against crime and violence by inculcating in them the basic principles of human rights and teaching them phrases and songs about peace and love for one another. God knows that they are constantly bombarded with more than enough negative images of sex, aggression and violence on television, in popular music, in the media and in their everyday life. We have seen that intolerance begets alienation, alienation begets animosity and animosity begets violence. It follows that the best way to reduce aggression and violence in any society is to teach tolerance and mutual respect.
Here in Jamaica we have strong advocates for tolerance in Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) and the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights (IJCHR). The PALS programme is a long-term one but already it has been reporting some positive results with less name-calling and fewer fights in schools. The IJCHR has been working assiduously to promote Human Rights in schools. They have ongoing projects, seminars and even produce colouring books for children. The IJCHR is currently revising the material for teaching about Human Rights based on the feedback from teachers and schools that participate in their projects. The material (compiled for the IJCHR by Janet Johnson) outlays topics for the pre-school child (like caring, sharing and daring) to topics for tertiary students, teacher training and other adult education programmes (like humanity and justice, democracy and humanitarianism).
It is my fervent hope that our leaders will pick up where PALS and the IJCHR leave off and make "Human Rights" a core subject at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of our education system. The electronic and print media should dedicate some prime space and time to human rights matters as a part of an ongoing campaign aimed at educating our populace in this critical issue.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
