Dear Christine,
I cannot emphasize enough how much I agree with the letter by Concerned (in Tuesday’s DAILY NATION).
Yes, there are women who genuinely fall on hard times, but the reality is that hard-working, educated women only get one or two children.
I myself am a mother and I know that raising children is not only about nurturing their bodies but it is also about nurturing their minds.
Children need help with homework and outings to the beach and playground, and they need to be schooled in social graces.
I cannot fathom how someone can think that getting a baby to support a child they already have seems like the sensible thing to do.
What these women do not realize is that they are only a link in this vicious circle.
They are raising their children in poverty, unable to properly feed and educate them and because this is what the children see, it becomes acceptable to them as well. Therefore, when they grow up they do the same.
The girls grow up to become single mothers and the boys turn to the most readily available male role models they can find, who usually are up to no good.
All of these things lead to societal decay and it creates a greater burden on Barbados to provide for our people.
At the end of the day I say that we do need to help these women. But we need to help educate them and their children.
The school, church, Government and private sector need to come together to assist with reading and homework, providing better sex education, imparting morals and values, and teaching children how to become empowered individuals.
This dependency and indifference toward self-improvement needs to be wiped out because Barbados is a chain, and we are only as strong as our weakest link.
– HOPEFUL
Dear Hopeful,
I am in total agreement with all you have added to what the writer of Tuesday’s letter said. Thanks very much for your contribution.
Again, I can say no more other than that our young women particularly need to seek to better develop themselves. While concerned agencies can develop educational, spiritual and practical programmes, it is really up to each individual to make use of such programmes.
– CHRISTINE