THE HUMAN BODY is a very complex, yet amazing system. We are so used to our body that we hardly ever recognise how wonderfully and skilfully constructed it is. An amazing feature of the human body is how interdependent it is and though we are aware of this, we normally don’t pay any attention to or appreciate it until we are sick or in pain.
A single toothache (wisdom tooth) can affect jaw motion, which then alters your eating pattern. It can cause pain and discomfort in the neck and trapezius muscles. This can cause difficulty in performing lateral arm movements which may affect functional ability at home and on the job.
The human body can be compared to a community or even a country, where the activity or actions of one area affect the other. Take, for instance, how a strong core has positive effects on other aspects of the body – it decreases injury, improves posture, decreases back injury, improves breathing, enhances performance, protects core organs and the list goes on.
The discussion on violence in Barbados, especially among young men, has been on the lips of the public for quite some time. However, over the past few weeks, that discussion has escalated as a result of the many shooting incidents, the most recent being the ones in Wotton and Lucky Horseshoe car park. What motivated me to join the discussion was when the “blame game” started.
The front page of Monday’s DAILY NATION carried an article titled Don’t Blame Me. In it, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite said: “Stop blaming politicians for the crime situation in the island. Instead blame the mothers who ignored their sons when they were going wrong, blame the education system for shuttling out children who were consistently underperforming, and blame the declining values system.”
He went on to say that murderers were originating from certain schools and certain corridors, but didn’t say which ones. The Attorney General’s comments generated numerous responses on social media and people started to give their opinion on what or who they believed were to blame for the crime situation.
The gun violence and wider criminal activity we are experiencing didn’t start overnight; these individuals did not wake up one morning and decide to be criminals. There was a gradual progression over a period of time that has resulted in what we see today.
Crime and violence is a serious problem but it’s just the fruit of a series of deeper issues. Christ not being the centre of a person’s life is the deepest issue and that leads to all types of sins, not only crime and violence. Sins are the product of man’s sinful nature and no law, programme, project, policy or intervention can conquer it; only salvation. You must be born again. Man is three-dimensional – spirit, soul and body – and unless we address all three areas, we will forever be fighting a losing battle.
A number of suggestions were made as to what contributed to the problem we face today and I believe there is value in each. Parents, politicians, the education system, media, the music, movies, the economy, joblessness, drug trade, power, the pursuit of wealth, societal change, lack of values, and the list goes on, have all contributed to the ills in society. What is interesting though is everything that was just mentioned has one thing in common – people.
We are all to blame. Just like the human body, the human race is interdependent and the decisions we make, whether good or bad, will have an effect on others and the society as a whole. Small actions or inactions that we may view as insignificant can develop into major behavioural problems that affect the lives of many. Our young people are a product of us adults. Let’s be wise in the examples we set and the seeds we sow in their lives.
The Barbados we live in today is the Barbados we have created; we are indeed firm craftsmen of our fate.
• Corey Worrell, a former Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, is director of C2J Foundation Inc., a project-based NGO focusing on social development. Email: [email protected]
