THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE VIOLENCE that is so prevalent in our country is affecting our children more than we realise. My son who is five years old had to be awakened from his sleep as he was seriously weeping. On realising that he was dreaming, he was given comfort and assured that he was only dreaming and everything was okay. When he was calm, he was asked to tell us about the dream. He said he was sitting on the floor playing when a policeman came up to him, pulled his firearm and threatened to shoot him. He got up and ran away crying for help.
To the best of my knowledge he has never been exposed to any violent act by the police. He is dropped off at school by his mom and I would pick him up. His movements are always chaperoned by one of us. There have been instances of police beating in recent times and this he has picked up while watching the evening news with us. I guess this is telling us that our evening newscasts should have an "R" rating.
The police are doing themselves almost irreparable harm as our children are growing up afraid of them, seeing them as people who will shoot and harm, even when unprovoked.
I will actively seek to expose my son to the positive roles of the police and hope that he develops a balanced view of our force, but I cannot help thinking that this should not have been necessary in the first place if the police were not making an enemy of our children.
I am, etc.,
WAYNE BROWN
benyaw@excite.com
Portsmouth
St. Catherine
Via Go-Jamaica
