DEAR CHRISTINE: Let’s act on underage sex

Dear Christine,

I DO NOT believe you have all the answers to every problem and I am quite sure that you do not. The question I really want to ask legal authorities is, why do we have laws in our law books which we do not follow?

For example, has anyone seen the number of underage girls who are pregnant in our society? The law says that such individuals rank as minors. Yet, we have “hard back” men who continue to have intercourse with minors. What are the parents of these girls doing about matters like these when they arise? That’s my question.

It seems like it is better to run down behind minibus drivers who have more people in their vehicles than they should, and turn a blind eye on the moral decline of our society.

– CURIOUS

Dear Curious,

You are right in stating that I do not always have the answers to every problem or situation which is brought to my attention. I will say this, however – I’ll love to find the individual(s) who will come forward and speak out against this. 

My other concern, perhaps like yours, is what is the church doing about matters like these? If we leave it up to the police and parents, we will probably get nowhere. Some parents today are more willing to sacrifice their daughters for the sake of money. I am not saying this is always the case, but when you take a good look at pregnant teenagers, you’ll discover that in many cases, the men have the blessings of the mothers.

I guess now that we have the attention of the police, parents, the church and concerned Barbadians who may be wondering the same, someone will also tell us why our law books say prostitution is illegal, yet we don’t have to go too far out of The City to see our young women and men selling their bodies.

Tick, tick, tick, tick – the clock is ticking, but there is a silence which follows questions like the one you asked. Why follow what’s in the law books when those with authority to enforce the law are doing nothing?

Perhaps we should hold our breath a little longer and wait to see what will happen. It’s no wonder that the world is in a severe state of moral decline.

– CHRISTINE