Not only is the daily press marred with reports of murders, but slowly, the incidents of rape of minors, who have "boyfriends" as much as 16 years their senior, is becoming the norm. Incest and rapes involving young female relatives and children as young as three years old are being highlighted. I ask myself: how many incidents like these continue to go unreported and unseen?

The sad thing about this is that it is extremely difficult for us to foresee an end to these degrading acts that reflect badly on what good values and morals constitute. Listening to the radio, you are left to wonder if the censoring of outright vulgar songs or songs with blatantly vulgar puns has become a thing of the past. Our artistes continue to write songs that are promoted because they are caught up in the hype of delivering to the masses "what they want", for a few dollars and cents, while planting images, messages and thoughts in the minds of the young and old in society that may ultimately lead them to commit acts of crime.

We call ourselves a religious people. The majority gravitate towards the ideologies of Islam, Christianity, or Hinduism or some other minority religious group, and yet we promote Carnival and its attendant vulgarity because "that is we culture". Culture is a design for life, and nowhere in the religious belief systems of the majority would we see the things that Carnival promotes being supported.

I encourage parents to lead by example. It won't hurt to ensure that the messages your children receive from the mass media are positive, and work towards moulding them into better people of tomorrow. Sex and nudity are tools used by the mass media to promote and sell products, so that the rich would continue to get richer while the poor get poorer. Let us safeguard our children and build a better Trinidad and Tobago, premised on good morals, values, ethics and respect.

Anderson Alexis

New Grant