Set good example for the youths

THE EDITOR: If I remember clearly, there was a calypso that asked the question “who will guard the guards?” As we enter the new year, the question continues to be left unanswered. I am a worker with the women’s programme in the Point Fortin area, and I have worked with numerous women from all walks of life, working as a labourer and as a checker. It really is heartrending to see human beings coming to stand, sit, even lie down for five hours and do nothing. Or, in some instances, if there is work to be done, complain that it is either too hard or too much for that kind of money.

There are also the checkers on the programmes who sit among these women and encourage them in this kind of attitude. Then we have the co-ordinators of the programme who believe that their jobs are already secure so they don’t have to worry about whether the workers are working, or working up to par. Aren’t we willing to understand guilt by association? What about a character reference? We are all mothers in our own right and if as a mother we are willing to put out that kind of attitude towards work, what do we expect from our children? We are the guardians of the world. What kind of work do we, as women, do at our respective homes? If we are single parents then we are our own bosses. The boss is the leader and if these are our leadership skills, we are in serious trouble. This is why I say over and over again, let the parents be wholly responsible for the outcome of each child’s life, even up to paying the penalty if there is a crime involved.

Sometimes I see some cleaning we as women do, the “half-pick duck” my mom used to call it, and it shows how much unfinished business we have even in the upbringing of our children. Mothers, we have a job, please let us finish what we started at home and in the work areas. When we go to bed with a man we guard ourselves against getting pregnant. When we go to spend money, we guard ourselves against overspending. We have babies, we guard them against the elements of nature and the outside world. So we are guards. Who do we want to guard us? Hence the question: “Who will guard the guards?”

JANICE HINDS LAWRENCE
Point Fortin