EDITORIAL
Over the years we have continuously heard warnings in the media, and governments and agencies across the world promoting safe living and safe sex. For several decades into present day, there have been some relaxation of the moral code in society, and younger generations have been experimenting more with their sexual behaviours without much thought of the repercussions.
Even in some of the music that is played over the airwaves, we hear the promotion and the embracing of a ‘free’ but very dangerous culture and the youth are lapping it up readily. It seems that society has now come full circle and is living the decadent life of the Romans. However, one should pause to consider how this behaviour, if allowed to continue without tangible change, can affect present and future generations.
On social media we see young girls and women exposing themselves and posing seductively for photos, all for ‘likes’ because they are looking for popularity. Young men too are posting negative images of themselves and overall these acts are compounding the progress that we have made in promoting safe sex.
Officials have also lamented the increase in sexual behaviours among school age children. It was reported in 2012 that ‘seven per cent of all primary school children and 22 per cent of all secondary school children stated that they had engaged in sex’. If these figures represent the actions of the very young in Barbadian society, this does not reflect well on the more ‘mature’ as they are the source of the information and the teachings to the younger people.
Further, research carried out by dance4life Barbados early this year indicated that “32.4 per cent of 12-15 year olds have reported being sexually active, and of these the vast majority have done so before they have reached their teenage years”. There is a disturbing trend developing too where people, both young and old, are engaging in these risky behaviours and are shying away from medical attention, hence sexually transmitted infections continue to spread without any end in sight. The irresponsible attitudes have become so popular that the prevalent warnings in all media have been reduced to chimes in the wind.
However, even though it seems that we have reached the point of no return with regard to popular culture and its effects on the population, there is still hope to bring a sense of a responsibility back to the few in our communities who exhibit such actions and are filtering them to others.
Another issue is the fact that many of the messages circulating promoting safe sex are not as attractive as the messages that don’t. If we want our population to take notice, we must move away from the drawing board and put plans into action. Advertisers are very creative in promoting their products; maybe we too can rope in the said advertisers to get the message across to the youth.
Government and all its agencies have been doing their part for decades to encourage good health among the population. We must now take individual responsibility for ourselves and those around us to focus on positive role models and positive behaviour to combat the slippery slope that is already threatening damage to our future.