Editor Amandala
Belize City.
Dear Editor,
“I am, indeed, a king [a queen], because I know how to rule myself.”
The aforementioned quote was that of Italian author, playwright and poet Pietro Aretino, who was so concise in his expression of the significance of exercising willpower, a virtue that our people, young and old, desperately need to practice.
If Belize’s priority in the fight against adolescent pregnancy is delaying sexual activity among children, then our media, cable providers, local entertainers and promoters and some NGOs did not get the memo. The aggression with which the war of sensuality has been declared on our children’s innocence has enraged many parents and caused them to question whether their young daughters are being trained for careers in seduction. The choice weapons of offense are provocative alcohol, concerts and condom ads, indecent movies, music videos, indiscriminatory condom distribution to young children, etcetera.
If our aim is to protect children and prepare them to make the right choices in the future in relation to sex, then the recent United Nations Population Fund report on teenage pregnancy in Belize should cause the peddlers of this barrage of will-powerlessness to concede.
The casualties of adolescent and teenage pregnancy, whether through sexual abuse, ignorance, society’s reckless promotion of sensuality or through will-powerlessness, are not limited to the risks of giving birth at a young age. The casualties also include school “drop-outs”, STIs and HIV infections, cervical cancer, infertility, severely disabled babies, psychological harm and thousands of innocent lives.
Over three thousand babies are aborted in Belize every year; many of them are the children of adolescent girls. This fixation with eliminating the unwanted consequences of premature, risky or illicit sexual behavior without encouraging individuals to use their will-power to say, “No” to these urges must end, if we want a remedy to this grave situation in Belize.
The “rubber-rave” is a social engineering mechanism designed to influence attitudes and behaviors. Condoms are promoted as fashionable, while virtue, self-control and discipline are not even worthy of highlighting or even mentioning as attainable ideals. Constant exposure to sexually-suggestive lyrics and images of people “making out”, dancing provocatively and even having sex has prematurely awakened a fascination with sex in children.
Children now want to “Get it” too and to “Live up” before they are physically, mentally and emotionally able to do so. Should we be surprised then that many adolescents are experimenting with sex if all they ever hear about is how, when and why they need to protect themselves?
We cannot afford to nurture behaviors that are unable to say, “No” to vices that as a society we see as destructive. We want citizens that will also be able to say, “No” to promiscuity, to adulterous affairs, to drugs, to stealing, to excessive credit and to corruption in government. Sexual abstinence until marriage is not futile and old-fashioned; it is possible if we promote it aggressively, especially through the media.
The government, media and all stakeholders in our children’s safety and development, should have embarked years ago on an aggressive campaign that promotes the benefits of waiting and exercising self-control. The opposition to such a strategy has been strong, and may be even stronger today among a powerful minority, because exercising will-power does not seem as a financially lucrative approach.
Self-control does not allow profits though the sale of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) commodities like condoms, intra-uterine devices, the pill and emergency contraceptives. Delaying sexual activity through individual will-power will not attract generous grants to NGOs for salaries and to operate SRH and abortion clinics. Virginity will not generate “blood-money” for self-trained midwives or murderers in white coats through abortion procedures, after manipulating young females in crisis. Abstinence does not attract million-dollar grants by foreign billionaires and foundations who invest in social engineering for their own selfish ends: so that they can “live up” while others suffer or die.
Children can learn to wait and say “no” to sex. Government must ensure that more of the education budget is spent on the poor and high-risk populations and that sex education in schools is not misleading or contaminated.
The Broadcasting Authority needs to be more vigilant and mindful of their role in enabling our children to be children and to acquire the proper information they need to grow and become healthy and responsible adults and citizens. Parents, especially fathers, need to love, protect and be more involved in their children’s lives by monitoring who their friends are, where they go and what they listen to.
Teach children to resist wrong pressures, and that doing the right thing takes an exercise of their innate abilities, wisdom and the desire to do what is right. Sexual abstinence is the foundation that will tame our appetites against excesses and many other destructive habits.
Sex is not sinful; it was not intended for trivial and meaningless encounters and for the sole purpose of gratifying our urges. Sex is special and it fulfills God’s desire for our procreation, our earthly happiness and security in a covenant relationship where there is love, respect, trust and commitment between a husband and wife.
If we really love and care about our children, then where our heart is, there is where our energies, legislation, budgets and time will be invested. It is Time to End the Peddling of Will-Powerlessness! If you would like to join in the effort to promote purity, willpower and Life for our Belizean children, please contact us at [email protected].
Zelda Hill