Heather Robinson

On Sunday evening, I listened with interest as a male constituent spoke to his Member of Parliament about some concerns he had. He is employed, works overseas and locally and is in his forties.

One of the first things he made clear was the need for all eligible Jamaicans to be enumerated, and then be prepared to vote. Asked if he was enumerated, his response was simple. You can't call yourself a man and not be able and willing to vote. Voting, he pointed out, is a right that he has always exercised and would never forfeit.

His second concern was about the plight of young males in his community, indeed in all Jamaica. He recalled that when he was growing up, boys and young men were only interested in one thing, girl. Now, he lamented that this four-letter word had been replaced by another four-letter word, guns.

In his youth, he said that his primary objective would be to work enough money so that he could take a girl to the Odeon cinema to see a triple bill. In his days, he said, that was a big deal from which one was able to derive much pleasure.

Boys, he said, are now fascinated and excited about guns. They spend hours planning and plotting how to get an illegal firearm, while at the same time expecting that someone will support them. The preferred choice for support is a woman. In fact, he said some males would rather stay home, wash and cook, while the woman goes to work. They are happy to spend time caressing and stroking their gun, and not their girl.

Redirect their lives

This father who works hard to support himself and his family, who has managed to improve on the home in which they live, is very worried about how as a people we can come together to redirect the lives of these young males.

He believes that they should not just be given additional training facilities, but that time should be spent in mentoring them away from guns, and yes, to girls. He proudly stated that he was a well-known 'girls' man' and yearns for the day when 'gunmen' will want to live the life he lived as a young adult in Jamaica.

This former 'girls man' believes that if his community can be transformed into a clean and beautiful place, young men can be persuaded from guns to girls.

In listening to him I was reminded of a programme I had in Windsor Heights when I was an MP. This programme was called 'How to be a man'. It exposed males to some of the social graces that we can sometimes take for granted. The first class dealt with how to get a woman's attention. Using role play we tried to arrive at what was the best and most successful method.

There cannot be a better time than now for our government to begin this programme of redirecting our youths. It has been my experience that there are too many things we as older persons take for granted, and perhaps if we spent more time speaking with young men we would be able to change the focus of many. Two recent examples of how two fathers responded to their son's criminal acts provide an excellent example. In the first case, the father went to court and gave evidence against his son in a murder trial. In the second, the father tried desperately to cover up his son's criminal acts and is himself now in jail.

As we approach the upcoming elections, let us remember that it is our responsibility to vote, and only then can you be truly classified as a 'big man'.