IN Jamaican society, it appears that controversy sells. Whether it be a clash in the dancehall arena, a radio host making ‘mix-up’ attractive, or politicians presenting an unfavourable preamble for future generations. Controversy has a wide audience because anything that is abnormal peaks curiosity and leaves those caught in its web, craving more.

We would like to suggest that there is a way to be a controversial figure without being immoral.

Positive controversy results from going against the grain and standing up for what is right.

As TEENagers, we must be careful of promulgating ideals that are not only detrimental to ourselves, but the younger minds we have influence on.

But can this idea change?

The first step to profiting from positive controversy is ridding ourselves of the notion that wisdom is wasted on the youth. We need to embrace a new ideology, which speaks to conquering adversity with determination and courage.

The most obvious sign of positive controversy as it pertains to youth is the existence of prodigies.

According to wordnetweb.princeton.edu, a prodigy is an unusually gifted or intelligent (young) person; someone whose talents excite wonder and admiration. Even more remarkable is a child prodigy who, according to Kathryn Vercillo, author of the article 10 Amazing Child Prodigies Across Time (Famous and Not), is someone under the age of 13 who is capable of excelling in at least one area of skill at a level that is considered to be an adult level in that field.

In this article, she wrote of prodigies, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who “is widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest child prodigies in music because of the amazing musical feats that he mastered at an early age”. Another prodigy mentioned was Pablo Picasso. “One of his most well-known pieces of artwork, The Picador, was created in the late 19th century when he was only eight years old,” he stated.

These figures of art used positive controversy, not necessarily consciously, to fuel careers that boasted worldwide acclaim and legacies that have survived them.

If we were to fuse the concept of positive controversy with the counterpart aspect of being a prodigy, this is what we would essentially observe. Those who first recognise what it is that they want to do, and pursue their dreams from an early age, have an increased chance of attaining success as they would be at a time in their life when their imagination would be not be negatively influenced by adult matters.

Furthermore, we can learn that you can be in your own quiet corner, perfecting that which comes naturally to you for the greater cause of benefiting from it either immediately or later on.

History dictates that the people who were spoken about are the ones who were the most controversial. Rosa Parks refusing to get up from her seat at the front of a bus was regarded, due to the nature of the racist society she lived in, as being defiant. Even William Shakespeare was an outcast in his day.

However, it was that controversial act that assisted in the genesis of a civil rights movement that would shaped our lives forever and the study of Literatures in English in most high schools across Jamaica.

TEENage would like to make an appeal that you be a positive controversial figure perpetuating passion, zeal and dedication with a commitment to greatness.