Letter of the Day | Domestic violence is a curse on our nation

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I was appalled and heartbroken to read in The Gleaner that the 13-year-old girl Kemelia Paul who had intervened in a fight in her home and, as a result, had been severely injured so that she had to be hospitalised, has died! 

A child seeking to stop the violence being played out before her among adults in her home has lost her life! What sort of nation have we become where more and more incidents of domestic violence are being reported? There seems to be no end to this barbaric behaviour among family members. 

The lack of self-control and the inability of people to settle disputes without physical violence in our nation is alarming. The emotion that is most predominant among us as a people is anger. It is displayed at every level of our society. Our leaders are crass in their arguments with each other. Our people have no example of how to manage their emotions and use self-control and words to settle disputes. 

The unkindness that now characterises our culture is played out in the public sphere: look at how the taximen drive on the streets; look at the anger on the faces of people moving around; listen to the language and tone of the voices of people talking to each other; look at the violence being displayed among students in the schools; hear the tone of the language being used in Parliament. Who is there to stem the tide of crassness, unkindness, lewdness and unbridled anger? 

When a child has to die in an attempt to stop violence among adults, it is a reflection of the low level to which we have sunk as a society. Can we begin to promote peace and gentleness in our society? Can we use music and media to teach our people that there is a better way to live? Companies spend so much money promoting lewdness as entertainment. Can some of those resources go to reframe our culture so that we move from being known as violent and angry people to one where peace becomes the hallmark?  Is that possible? I hope to see the change take place in my lifetime.

ESTHER TYSON
Retired Principal