Dear Editor,

One does not have to be a fan of dancehall music to admit that, over the years, there were songs with witty lyrics and strong social commentary coming from this genre of music; however, things seem to have taken a dramatic turn for the worse in the last few years.

Some of the current music and videos that are coming from dancehall may be described as sexual grooming. Sexual grooming can be defined as a preparatory and gradual process of initiating children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults into sexual acts.

Before the howls of protestations start, isn’t it true that young children — primary school level — have been participating in unsavory TikTok challenges based on popular music videos?

We live in a democratic society so I am not calling for artistes to be banned or sanctioned; however, shouldn’t we be hearing more from the institutions that have been formed to protect the young and vulnerable?

To borrow a term recently used by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, are the leaders of these institutions “star-struck”? Why aren’t we hearing from them about this worrying trend? It does not help when leaders across the Jamaican society, by their actions, seem to provide tacit support for this type of music.

It cannot be right that young children are being influenced to engage in sexually explicit acts and the reaction is either muted or non-existence.

Money, class, and international and local connections should not influence how we tackle this important matter. Instead, we must seek to implement measures to ensure that children are not exposed to sexual exploitation in any form.

Marsha Thomas

marshburns@hotmail.com