Lest we forget the innocent
SO today is election day, and as many of us set out to cast our votes, it is imperative that we remember the children and the part they play in the process.
While some people may think that children are mere onlookers, please be reminded that they live what they learn. Not only do they see our actions, but they tend to repeat things that are being said. So it wasn’t strange to hear my three-year-old neighbour chant, “Not changing no course”, after which she engaged my nephew in a dance-off while singing the JLP’S campaign song, “Me and mi neighbour, voting for labour,” in the middle of the street, while my nephew sported an orange shirt in a JLP-affiliated area.
Too many people have lost their lives by simply associating with a member of the other party. This is a nonsensical act that needs to stop.
Children are hearing of these things and they are asking questions too. One day while the JLP advertisement which shows Portia Simpson Miller expressing that she won’t change course came on the TV, my nephew watched it through before asking me, “What Portia mean by she ‘not changing course’ and what Bruce want from her?”. On another occasion while we got ready to go out, he expressed his disapproval with the clothes that were laid out for him.
When we queried why he refused to put them on, he responded, “I am not wearing that to Spanish Town to let them shoot me”. It was an orange shirt. We did not argue. He wore something else.
Children are not idiots. They look, they emulate, they repeat. Therefore, to the leaders and supporters of each political party, I implore you to act in a civilised manner as you go about this election, as the eyes of the innocent are watching you.
