Dear Editor,

I am a Jamaican living abroad. I take such pride in telling people that I am a Jamaican. But I have been finding it so disturbing that the lives of our nation’s children have been coming to an end so quickly and violently.

As a nation we need to start taking a stand on these issues. The fact that violence hasn’t happened to our own children or close friends and family does not mean we are excluded from it happening to us. We can’t wait until then to start seeing it as a priority to protect our children.

Our national parental values should be under great scrutiny. Many of the parents today have forgotten about the values our grandparents and great grandparents instilled in us. Although I do believe that the parents need to take a stand on implementing good values and attitudes, protecting our children does not stop there.

Our teachers are at the forefront in helping to protect our nation’s children. The fact that children can leave for school and not arrive there and parents are not alerted that their children are not in school is totally appalling in this day and age. All schools have guidance counsellors, they are there as extra support in guiding and proctecting our children. My main point in this letter is that schools need to implement a system in contacting parents if their children are more than half-hour late, and if children are absent from school someone is to find out why they are not in school. How many of the nation’s schools have contact numbers for parents? That should be a good start in trying to help protect our children.

My heart is breaking to see how our children’s lives are going to waste because of the lack of care and urgency to start protecting our children. Although I am living abroad, I feel the need to get involved now. My heart aches.

Stephanie Drysdale

London, United Kingdom

stephydryasdale@aol.com