Granted when I was going to school in Jamaica we didn't have "
Internet" or "Cell phone," so taking pictures of sex acts and transmitting them were not on the curriculum. I read an article yesterday in the Jamaican Observer (by
Mark Wignall), where he is discussing students having sex on the stairwell, and other children video taping this. I was shocked to say the least. Where were the teachers?
I know I am going to sound old fashion, but in my school days, you couldn't even hold a boy hand in your school uniform, without facing a caning or other disciplinary actions. Apparently Close-ups of the genitalia are given and as the camera pans to the girl smiling, one male voice in the audience says, 'Him nah use no boots,' indicative of the boy having sex without a condom.
It is so hard for the teachers. With this level of disrespect increasing the teachers (even if they were there) are being ignored. I feel that sometimes taking away the "corporal punishment" in the schools (although some teachers were abusing their authority) have led to this "loose" behavior. The school uniform was something of pride. If you did your dirt an slackness you didn't do it in your school clothes.
This behavior is affecting the students G-Stat results as well. Sadly with the increase of "Single Mothers" in Jamaica, not much discipline is in the home as well. Girls having babies at 10 and 13 is not uncommon. One school teacher in Mr
Wignall's article states, "It is not uncommon to have 14 year old videotaping their body parts and bragging about how many times they have had sex.
The mentality of children having sex needs to change throughout Jamaica. Aids in on the rise, as well as other
STD's. Many of the fathers think it is a "right of passage" for their young boys to "Deflower" a girl when she is just approaching puberty or in puberty. Social pressure from other girls cause many of these girls to say, "YES" when a young man pressures them for sex.
Many men have so many children scattered throughout Jamaica that if their was a "genetic reason " for that father to be "traced" to assist that child with a blood transfusion that it would be impossible. The main reason being that so many young girls won't say who the child's father is and often times has other people raising their child as the father. (as we say, "
dem get jacket)
What is happening to our kids is no joke. It is a sad
testimony of children who have lost respect for themselves. Who don't honor their bodies. Who feel it is alright to do this. Sadly the school is the new breeding ground.
