THE EDITOR, Sir:

I am an avid viewer of TVJ's morning show 'Smile Jamaica', as I find it to be a very light-hearted, yet informative way to understand the issues affecting our country.

I was, however, quite disturbed as I watched the interview with the children's advocate by co-hosts Neville Bell and Yendi Phillips on February 20, 2013. Towards the end of the interview, Yendi related a true story as told to her by her helper of a six-month-old baby who, having been left in the care of an adult by her mother, was found to have semen in her stomach.

What I found even more disturbing about that the incident itself was Yendi's next question to the children's advocate: "What are we doing about that?"

Should Yendi not be setting an example by telling her eager listeners that she has encouraged her helper to report what she knows to the relevant authorities so that perverts such as in this case can be brought to book?

Do our social leaders not understand and appreciate that society demands that they speak out about the many atrocities that plague our fair island?

Is it sufficient and acceptable that we sit in our various circles, whether on the cocktail circuit or on the street corner, lyming with our friends, and merely talking about the issues that blight our nation rather than taking a stand?

My question to our beloved co-host is, "What have you done about the incident as related to you?" We cannot just sit back and hope that somebody else will deal with the problem.

Our court system may be slow and in need of serious overhaul, and our security forces may be overworked, but Jamaica cannot remain in its apathetic state of refusing to report what we know, and then expecting someone else to do something about the problems.

To do anything less would be to sell out the future of our nation and its children.

WINSTON ORMSBY

Kingston 10