Dear Editor,

I write to express my disgust and outrage at the high level of abuse against women and children reported in the media. It is often said that our children are our future, but if we continue to abuse them physically, emotionally, mentally and sexually, then what kind of future do we expect to have as a society?

It was painful to read the story of the two little boys who were allegedly kidnapped, raped and then thrown into a river resulting in their death. It broke my heart to know that there are people in our society who are so wicked and heartless. I grieve with the families of these two little boys and I call upon the justice system of this country to work indefatigably, assiduously and tirelessly to apprehend those responsible for such a brutish and cruel act.

I cannot fathom how anyone in their right mind could look at those two innocent little boys and violate their bodies. It speaks to the fact that as a society we have lost our way. What has happened to the idea of protecting and caring for our children?

Let us use the different media to spread our message of protection and to let the few bad apples amongst know that as a people, we will not tolerate or adhere to their devious, despicable and disgraceful conduct.

As a society, it should be our stance not to allow these monsters to take away another smile, another laughter. We must fight with the resilience that is known of the Jamaican people. We must fight to protect our children and we must fight to ensure that they can live in a society where they will feel safe and loved.

It is time for us to start looking at prevention. My mother would always say that “prevention is better than cure”. Instead of waiting until another child has been raped or abducted to plan a protest and wear all black, let us start from now. Let us start by encouraging our young men to be responsible and to work hard to achieve success. Let us start by reminding the fathers within our society that they need to be present in their children’s lives, let us start by promoting an acceptance of values and moral principles. Let us start by promoting equality and justice for all. Let us start by going back to a society where men wore their pants at the waist and a society where men were not afraid to stand up and protect their families. A society where the family was the fabric that held the society together. In essence let us start by going back to the basics.

Let’s act now and put an end to such barbaric, malevolent, malicious and cruel acts against our children.

Andre Johnson

hue_ajohnson@yahoo.com