THE EDITOR, Sir:
IT IS really quite frightening to watch the news each evening and listen to the body count for the day. Having recently returned from Spain where I was completing post-graduate studies, this fact is even more striking to me.
Two weeks ago I had the misfortune of speaking to an eight-year-old girl who was riding her bicycle up and down the avenue. She said that her family had recently moved into the community because they had previously lived in a community near Duhaney Park and were tired of gunshots.
In the little girl's words, "one day when I heard the shots, they sounded so close that I thought my life was over." I felt quite saddened to hear her speak in this way and could not help reflecting on the fact that not one Spanish child in the community where I was studying would ever have had to utter those words or fear for his/her life.
We need to allow our children to enjoy their childhood and not cause them undue stress. We should not seek to involve them in our evil deeds and petty squabbles, nor should we expose them to politics, sex and corruption. If we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind.
I am, etc.,
KAREN HENRY
Portmore
