Dear Editor,

In relating to our music and crime it is a scourge which needs to be curbed to ensure the safety of our nationals and visitors. The Senate-projected mandate to declare gun lyrics illegal is a move in the right direction. The legislative arm in the upper house has raised the discourse, should vicious lyrical content from our artistes be declared illicit and wrong?

I must concur with the senator who raised this most wonderful question of this archaic system of governance in the protection of the savagery of many musicians.

From a broader point of view, people who declare informers as ignoble are declared as wrongdoers because they are trying to uphold the constitutional rights of the citizens of this sunny isle. The things some people say in our society and get away with makes me cringe. Sometimes it is coming from persons the society holds in high regard. But if a man can come on national TV and declare that “informer fi dead” this is saying a lot about our inability to curb crime from the root. This easily tells me there are no forms of regard for the relevant protective machineries to ensure the safety of the fundamental rights of it citizenry.

Everything of national importance should be placed on the public lip for them to declare if it is right or wrong. Gun lyrics are among the main source of major crimes, along with movies, unlike what Damion Crawford has declared.

I am not speculating, there are many who are motivated by the gunplay. We need the Broadcasting Commission to work in tandem with the legislators and security forces to execute the doomsday for these violent lyrics. Schoolteachers too can play a tremendous role in teaching values and attitudes in some instances in their lessons to enhance our resolve.

We need to fix the criminal justice system and encourage everyone to embrace songs of upliftment like those of Tony Rebel or Culture. The musicians are strong influencers in our society, and if they are given the ammunition to encourage killing, plundering and and creating mayhem, they can.

Paris Taylor

Greater Portmore

paristaylor82@hotmail.com