STABROEK News cartoon: ‘Politics’ of August 18 has galvanised me to pen this letter to you. The cartoon is so reflective of current day Guyana. About a decade ago, one could still hear Quaseedas, Hymns and Bhajans (religious music/songs) issuing from homes as one passes by. Today those religious songs are replaced by ‘Rum till I die’, Rum don’t bother me’, ‘A drinka’, ‘Rum and roti’ and ‘Bring it in a bottle’.
In the wee hours of the morning and up to bed time our children are bombarded with these songs, very often in their own homes. Thus our children are being conditioned to accept ‘Rum’, as a good thing and a norm. They can recite the lyrics of these songs but are hard put to recite a verse of a religious song.
In many cases, parenting today appears to be an unwelcome and unnecessary burden. Many children are ‘accidents’ and, in a lot of instances, their upbringing is equally accidental. I have heard single mothers vehemently insist that “Government gat fuh mind meh children.” Little wonder there is so much truancy and a growing population of illiterates.
Sadly, the stark reminder of spousal-abuse, suicides, murders and physical violence is shouting at us to engage in acts which will influence the lives of our charges in a positive manner and steer our children, along a more sober path. While some work has been done by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Guyana Police Force in reducing lewd and loud music in mini-buses, some bus drivers still dare the law. The private-hire vehicles add their bit. The end product: our people are still being accosted by vulgar music.
It has always been my view that parents should be placed before the courts along with their errant children. Parents simply MUST be accountable for the acts of their juvenile children.
My appeal is for parents to nurture more sober households which will result in less violent communities and in a society with drastically reduced violence.