The furore this past week over reports of a textbook being used in some secondary schools with reference to same-sex unions as a type of family option has again thrown into sharp focus the challenge to the Jamaican society of contending values and view points, and how to deal with them.

A majority of Jamaicans claim to embrace Christian values and teachings. Among these values is an overwhelming public hostility to any hint of endorsement of same-sex unions. So, it is hardly surprising that there has been a firestorm over published reports of the existence of a book being used which says, against the background of much recent debate about family structures, gay unions may be considered a family type. The visceral reaction this has provoked has since moved the discussion from the sublime to the ridiculous, where an entire text is now being labelled a 'gay textbook'.

Many of Jamaica's secondary schools, founded by Christians and guided along Christian principles, in their official policies, apparently have little trouble accommodating in their midst, Islamic and Rastafarian children whose world views are decidedly anti-Christian. These schools accommodate textbooks which acknowledge the existence of other religions and societal structures without apparently fearing that the mere mention of these other perspectives is an endorsement of their lifestyles, or that they will subvert long-held values.

It is, of course, troubling to many people tha lifestyles are possibly being presented as normative to impressionable teenagers. But these reactions suggest that teenagers draw their value systems primarily from the classroom. The absurdity of that point of view is self-evident. Children are exposed to various ideas, news reports and discussions of all sorts through the mass media, over the Internet, from their families, from their peers, religious institutions, popular entertainers, etc.; and eventually, they make choices.

The fears seem grounded in a belief that any idea or suggestion which is contrary to the majority view is likely to prove more influential. But why should this be?

In its earliest days, Christianity thrived and grew in cosmopolitan cities with differing and even hostile perspectives. It was founded on the principle that people can make choices. That principle has not changed in 2,000-plus years.

Pretending that some things to which we are opposed do not exist will not make them disappear. Over many years, for example, educators and parents have prohibited their children from reading certain types of literature, yet, children find ways of getting hold of them anyway.

As an aside, we note that in many jurisdictions, especially the United States, debates have raged over whether schools should allow the theory of evolution, which is seen by some fundamentalists as an attempt to undermine belief in the Bible. Schools have been allowed to teach it anyway and the sky has not fallen in.

We have yet to be convinced that the textbook at the centre of last week's controversy poses the moral danger to Jamaican society that so many seem to fear.

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