On Saturday morning, the atmosphere around Barbados was filled with discussion surrounding the image and article on the Back Page of the Saturday Sun that described a sexual encounter between two students of a rural secondary school.
Let me start by saying that journalists have a responsibility to bring accurate and relevant news and developments to the public. However, they must also be responsible with that information and be aware that what they present and how they present it is of equal importance.
I fully support the Nation for bringing the matter to the public domain and as minister Roger Husbands said, it was a needed wake-up call. What I did not agree with was the amount of detail shared about the children’s sexual encounter.
Sex in schools is nothing new and most of us know that. If you didn’t now, let me make it clearer for you. Some or all of these occur in our urban, rural, old grammar and new secondary schools as well as our tertiary institutions – sexual intercourse, oral sex, anal sex, prostitution, mutual masturbation, fondling, homosexuality, lesbianism and sexual abuse and harassment.
I know of students having sex and engaging in sexual activity on public transportation, at bus stops, in public bathrooms, at house parties and school fetes, in cane fields and even on the side of the road. Behind every behaviour and attitude, there is a story and in order to help our youth, we need to find out where that story begins.
Our young people lack purpose and where purpose is unknown, abuse is inevitable and quite frankly, many of our youth are abusing themselves. They also lack continuous structure, firm but caring leadership and good examples to follow. Some of us parents and adults should hold our heads down in shame with the poor examples we have set.
It is almost impossible to prevent children from having sex or engaging in sexual activity, but it can be controlled and minimized on the school premises. As a former teacher, let me say to the general public that it is quite difficult and almost impossible for 60 teachers to adequately police 700 children, especially with the organizational and physical structure of most schools.
Take, for instance, the design of our schools. In many cases, the staffrooms are located in areas where teachers cannot see most of the students’ activities; bathrooms
are located in areas that are blocked by covered staircases or located in corners. During lunch on any given day, two or three teachers along with security
will do a general walk-around to make sure students aren’t up to mischief. This does help but is somewhat unproductive since students have lookouts and alert their peers when staff are approaching.
Some schools have a policy that at lunch time all students must vacate the buildings and have lunch outdoors, while other schools allow the children to remain in the classrooms unsupervised since teachers do need a break and also need to eat.
Our children are being introduced to sex much earlier than times past and as a result, parents and guardians need to be more involved in their children’s lives. We are sowing bad seeds when we allow and encourage children to behave and dress like adults. No child under the age of 16 should be allowed to wear thongs, stilettos, push-up bras, fake eyelashes, have tattoos, excessive body piercings, have boyfriends and girlfriends over till late at night or sleeping over, be in romantic relationships or on the phone and Internet late at night talking. Call me old school if you want, but children must be children.
I have so much more to share but my space is limited so I say this to the young people: sex is amazing, but the irresponsible and ungodly use of a penis and vagina will destroy your life. Condoms protect your flesh but don’t protect your heart or your soul, so they aren’t completely safe, but abstinence is. Don’t settle for two minutes of pleasure, which may lead to a lifetime of shame and regret. Make decent decisions, choose purity, choose abstinence.
• Corey Worrell is a former Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.
