Factors influencing our youngsters

Has anyone stopped to think that the sexual behaviours of Jamaican adolescents are not a result of dancehall music or any other form of entertainment, but a result of the taboo about discussing sex and sexuality in this country?

Children learn about sex at very early ages from all the persons and things that are likely to mislead them. Perhaps, early sexual education would counter this and foster better sexual attitudes in the country.

Censorship will solve nothing, but will drive children and everyone else to access the desired material through other mediums or in other spaces beyond the control of the Government.

It is education that will solve our problem. Let us teach our children about sex holistically from as early as possible. Let them have the right information and know the appropriate behaviours before any other influence can corrupt them. We need to stop being silent about sex around children ... they already know!

Daniel St.Martin

peter.dstm.wright@gmail.com

Kingston

Different Level of enlightenment in Jamaica

Ms Marcia Forbes (in her letter yesterday) makes the 'holier than thou' points that we have come to expect from those who have practised in the commercial media.

This country is tired of the hypocrisy being displayed by so-called "enlightened" persons who have previously benefited from the downward spiral in our values and who now come to lecture us on "what we did wrong".

Let us all first confess our involvement and ask forgiveness from the citizens and then we will get the required cooperation of the entire country. Let the owners of the commercial media spearhead the renewal in an honest way and the results will be to our national advantage.

Wilbert A. Witter

wilmot_francis1@hotmail .com

Hughenden, St Andrew

Gov't must review abolished school fees

I do agree with the president of the Secondary School Principals' Association, Nadine Malloy, that schools won't be able to survive financially if the government goes ahead with plans to put a freeze on schools' ancillary fees.

Since the government abolished fees, schools have been finding it very hard to cope with their daily expenses. It is clear that the JLP did not think about how it would be able to fund schools when fees were abolished.

Now schools are underfunded and the government needs to understand that they are not providing the best educational opportunities for our children. No wonder school administrators have to be doing hard selling in order to pay for electricity, water and the necessities which help to create an environment conducive to learning.

Wayne Simmonds

waynes90@yahoo.co.uk