We were as twinn’d lambs that did frisk i’ the sun,

And bleat the one at the other; what we chang’d

Was innocence for innocence; we know not

The doctrine of ill-doing.

— Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale 1, 2

“Suffer the little children to come unto Me.”

“Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.”

“And a little child shall lead them.”

All those words and more were taken from the Bible, as children were honoured, respected and, most of all, loved. Even the above quote by the bard spoke of the innocence of children, who knew not the doctrine of ill-doing.

But ill-doing and evil shall meet them head on, as our children are now under siege. No longer do the young ones feel safe or protected. Even in times of crisis, the cry was always to save the women and children first. Well, that cry is now hollow, as women and children are thrust into the line of fire, cast into the burning pit, thrown overboard and placed in harm’s way.

What happened? How did we get this way, that children are made to suffer so? We’ll take a look at that right after we see what folks had to say about, ‘Get what you deserve’.

Hi Tony,

As you stated, many women may get what they deserve by staying with the man while being abused. I am sure this applies to men as well. There was this case I knew where the woman couldn’t take any more and took an axe to her husband while he slept.

The breaking point for this woman was when he threatened to kill her and she decided it was either him or her who had to go. Did he deserve it? While I don’t condone murder, I would argue that this was self-defence. My message to abusers, push hard enough and you may live to regret it… or not.

Sheldon

Teerob,

At first I didn’t agree with you initially, but after much thought I saw your point. We all have a choice, but many refuse to make a decision purely because of selfish and material reasons. So what if he beat her… she still lives in the nice house!? So what if he cheats on her… she drives the nice car!? So what if he verbally abuses her in public… she has good social standing and bears his famous name!? Well, she deserves him and all that he has to offer. I was once there, but no more. I deserve better. Nuff said.

Winsome

When Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me,” He didn’t mean suffer in the context of what they are going through now. One true tenet of nature is that the young are protected, at all costs. I’ll never forget how one of my dogs protected and saved her six pups during Hurricane Gilbert by digging an angled hole in the ground during the deluge, at great risk to her own life. None were lost. Get between an animal and its young, and see what that mother does to you. The young are protected in nature.

But people nowadays defy the laws of nature and, in fact, make up new laws of their own, laws that even wild animals shun. A young lady once told me that when she was a child, they heard sounds as if burglars were attempting to break into the house. She was not afraid however, and said to her parents, “Criminals don’t hurt little children.” Oh the innocence of youth.

Alas, that was then, a different era, another time and place. Now children are in the firing line and number among the casualties of rampaging onslaughts. The stories are often too graphic and disturbing to repeat. “Child shot dead in home invasion”; “Mother kills baby after losing child custody battle”; “Pregnant girl killed by adult lover”; “Pregnant 14 year old chopped to death.” Chilling, graphic and disturbing!

When I heard about that mother killing her young baby, I remembered the story from the Bible of these two women who were each claiming a baby as their own. They brought the case to wise King Solomon who said, “Since we can’t decide whose child it is, let me cut the baby in two and give each half to both mothers.” One mother cried out and said, “Oh no, give it to the other woman instead.” Solomon gave it to the woman who wanted no harm to befall the infant, as she was clearly the real mother. Now mothers are killing their children and King Solomon is spinning in his grave.

What’s also sad is that adult men are preying on young girls for sexual gratification, and the numbers are far higher than you’d care to imagine. There are countless instances of grown men cohabiting with girls as young as 11 or 12, sometimes younger. They offer these children material things or money, and have their way with them. An iPhone or regular lunch money is a big deal to a 14-year-old.

Now, of course you’re going to say that some of these girls are up to it and even encourage it, but that should not matter. The fact is, they are still children, and the adult ought to know better and desist from the act. But do you know what some men say? “Cho, me is not her first man, is long time she doing it, so ah nuh nutten.”

Other men justify their actions by saying, “If I didn’t do it, another man going to do it, so what!?” Others even say, “Those girls might be young, but dem is big experienced woman. Is she put argument to me.”

So these big old grey back men have carnal knowledge with these children, sometimes for years, rewarding them with cash and trinkets. These children may feel special, as their material needs are taken care of, but nature often runs its course, and sex leads to pregnancy, and the big man cannot afford to be exposed.

On more than one occasion, these young girls end up dead, snuffed out by a merciless adult who puts his reputation and name before her life. Death before dishonour, even though he had no honour to begin with.

Sadly, there are mothers who encourage this sort of behaviour, as long as the man is funding the household. Some will turn a blind eye, while others actually encourage the daughters to be with the stepfather or any other older man. It’s more common than you think, and countless children are living under the yoke of sexual oppression right under our noses.

See, even a big international tennis star was just found guilty of having sex with minors years ago. One was only 12 years old, the report said. Many years had passed, but the law still caught up with him. The only thing he’ll be serving now will be time.

And don’t think that it’s only daughters who fall prey either. Your young sons are not safe from these buggers. There was a time when daughters were the ones who were the prime targets, but sexual predation knows no gender and young boys also get trapped into the sordid net of sexuality. The only difference is, they cannot get pregnant.

There was this much-vaunted case that was recently in the media, where a high-ranking male school teacher was exposed in bed with a young male student, all because the video of the act went public, or viral, as the term now is. Yes, he really ranked, or ‘renk’, as Jamaicans say.

I cannot understand how anyone could kill a child. But it happens, and by mothers too, locally and internationally. There was this case in Belgium where this woman lost a custody battle and set the house on fire with her children inside. She then phoned her husband and told him to listen to their screams as they burned. So we are not alone, as infanticide is global.

On more than one occasion, mothers in the USA have placed their children in the trunks of cars and driven into the sea or lake. Fathers have tied up their children, barricaded everyone inside, and set the house on fire.

When did the world get this way? Why are children the focus of so much pain, anguish, sexual predation, mayhem, maiming and murder? Has the heart of man hardened beyond redemption? I have no answers, even as I grapple to find a logical reason. I am told that these people have no logic, no reasoning, no heart. “Tis not good that children should know any wickedness,” said Shakespeare.

More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: Are parents to blame for the plight and indeed the attitude of children nowadays? After all, ‘children can’t grow bad by themselves’ it’s been said. Some parents do contribute to their children’s bad behaviour and ‘force ripe’ their young ones.

A policeman phoned a call-in programme and said how once, when he told some children to stop loitering in the bus park and go home, a mother actually confronted him the next day and told him to stop harassing her daughter. Tales of young girls loitering in Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay or the Transport Centre in Kingston until way after dark are numerous. They can be seen leaving in taxis with grown men.

Either their parents do not care, or they encourage it, until they become one more pregnant/murder statistic, and they wail. Parents, take back your children… if you care. Personally, I think it’s a lost generation.