THE EDITOR, Sir:AFTER ALL the excitement and festivities of the old year have subsided, the great expectation for the New Year must be the Urban Development Corporation's (UDCs) undertaking to make a success of the over-touted Values and Attitudes programme commencing with a target group of "basic-schoolers". Significantly it was almost a decade ago that this initiative was given much applause on its grandiose launching, an acknowledgement that should have been reserved for results rather than rhetorical effort.
Like most other social, economical and political difficulties that present their respective challenges to us, we tend to focus on a cure instead of the prevention. In any language, the prevention must be better than the cure. While we recognise and appreciate that every strategy must be tried in order to rid our society of anti-social behaviour and apathy, we cannot ignore the underlying factors which provide the sustenance for unsavoury manners and culture of immorality and impoliteness.
Children will always live what they learn, especially at home where the child's first school exists and from which institution that child will formulate the mind-set of what is socially correct and acceptable. The long-term development process should start with the parents because all the problems we have begin with two people, a man and a woman.
We cannot ignore the importance and stability of the homes from which the UDC's target group (presumably all aged six and under) will come as there are also plans to work with the parents (meaning mostly women). A lot will depend on these women (and immature teenagers) who out of necessity have made and are making choices once reserved for a structured home.
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never yet failed to imitate them because they live and learn more from what they see.
I am, etc.,
SONIA CHRISTIE
Stewart Town PO, Trelawny
