I get your point, David, but isn’t it a bit of reach (or a cheap shot) to use Rihanna’s example to make it? Child-on-child abuse, statutory rape and some of our countrymen’s apparent ambivalence or apathy regarding same, are serious enough issues without having to drag Ms Fenty’s name (good or otherwise) into the mix gratuitously.

Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children. Good parenting helps to diminish the effect of popular culture.

I believe that belief in God also helps to limit our natural human tendencies to consume everything in excess.

It appears to me that there is a generation of parents in Barbados who do not have the support of their grandparents and the goodwill of their neighbors.

Barbados is a nation of hypocrites and a lot of the same people on BU and writing in the Nation are probably involved in the same sinful actions they criticize.

I don’t have a clue how to change the behavior alluded to in this post but parenting is where I think the problems in society can be diminished.

People in glass houses should not throw stones so this hypocrite will keep the big rocks in he pocket.

@Hants

It use to take a ‘village’ to raise a child and we had parents back when too.

You all just don’t get it, the moral fabric of a society can be compared to a rug with a pattern. All* the strands must be woven to a pattern to get the desired result, it will not happen by accident.

There is a YouTube video of a 10-year old girl in Canada (Maria Aragon) who sang the latest Lady Gaga song in a home video, and was selected to sing with Lady Gaga at her concert in Toronto. Lady Gaga is not known for her modesty or reserve, and some questioned if she is an appropriate role model for a pre-teenager. Through the internet, young children are potentially being exposed to a wide variety of adult material in music videos and elsewhere. It is left for parents and teachers (if the children are using the internet in school) to prevent them from finding this material and being affected by it. This must be difficult, due to the ease with which most young people use technology as compared to those in their parents’ generation. Rihanna is tremendously popular everywhere it seems these days, including here in Barbados judging from the crowds who turned up at her perfume launch. The fact that she dresses scantily, and fondles herself on stage and in video, is not a secret and I feel this must have some influence on some young people (and some adults I bet) which is not positive. However, Rihanna is not responsible for raising our children. The question is whether those who are responsible are doing their job in training their children to grow up in the right way. The recent reports of sexual activity amongst primary school children may indicate that young children are being exposed to sexual behaviour in some way, and are bold enough to act it out with, and on, others. This is troubling.

We have seen the gradual slide of these mores and values and yes while we acknowledge that there are some that needed to be neutralized, we also recognized the wisdom of not removing those tried and tested values that have kept us as a cohesive unit.

Fundamental to any society is its religion or culture (the two can sometimes be interchangeable). A set of core tenets or laws by which a people is known. When we see the erosion of these tenets by subcultures and infiltration of values that are foreign to us, it is only a matter of time before chaos and anarchy presents itself.

There was a time when we demanded a certain level of behavior from our politicians and preachers, but today we have politicians flaunting their outside women in the faces of their wives, politicians who are homosexuals and let you know, politicians who should really be gracing the halls of Dodds, far less the halls of parliament, yet we still elect them.

We also have preachers who have questionable characters, and have shown no remorse for their behavior yet desire to lead people spiritually, they do not even admit to any wrong publicly even though a public trust has been reposed in them, and are therefore answerable to their ‘public’.

We have school teachers having relationships with our children and they boldly speak of it. Our young girls are being impregnated by older men, yet the law of statutory rape is not enforced….. and now the most laughable of them all is the church forming a group to police themselves with regard to moral issues.

This the most oxymoronic thing i have ever heard….. this is like saying one is gently aggressive. By the very definition, a church patterned after Christ is one of righteous living. One can therefore conclude that what we see today is not what he desires to build, but is just an organization.

These ‘church leaders’ have sold their souls for the proverbial thirty pieces of silver, so what we see today are ‘spiritual leaders’ who are unable and unwilling to tell politicians they have erred. We see them towing party lines and conforming to the constitution of the party.

One is not surprised therefore when you hear of one of these individuals inferring that because of Rihanna’s success it is alright for her to bear her breasts when she feels like or wear nex’kin to nuttin.

She said in an interview that playboy had asked her to pose nude and her response was, she will do it not for a cheque but at her own will. So the question is, can’t she use the same will to tell the handlers no with regards to her lack of clothes or videos.

As a woman and a believer in Christ, i feel some sense of empathy for her, but if she chooses to to walk around naked that is her choice, but to say to our young people ‘ this representation of the youth’ who is called a youth ambassador is okay because she is makes a lot of money, (this is how we measure success) sends mix messages to them.

That title is reserved for someone who is doing positive things with his/her life. They may not make as much money as Rihanna, but has enough dignity to say to whomever, ‘ thus far and no further’.

Today we have the blind leading the blind.

@Spratt

Right now the fabric has moth eaten holes in it and there is no leader on the scene right now that can mend it.

@Micah, agreed

Rihanna is not responsible for raising our children but how do you negate the influence that she will have on young minds. People learn by reinforcing whether negative or positive.

It is not a dislike for Rihanna, it is that our politicians have held her up as a role model and by their actions are basically saying to our youth this is the way to go.

Barbados is part of the World. In the real World money and/or Sex rule.

Was it not too long there were moves afoot to legalise homosexuality and prostitution here in Barbados? Who were in the vanguard of these moves? Not Politicians?

In many countries of the World it is official policy for children of very tender ages to be married off.

All that is happening is that Barbados is catching up. If we do not want these things to happen to our children we have to be very careful with them.

However to be quite honest this sort of thing is not new. I recall a former Chief Justice of Barbados who used to drive around at evening and night looking for little boys to have sex with with. As a matter of fact a man was taken up by certain elements and murdered in order to keep certain videos of this same Chief Justice from surfacing.

@Carson Cadogan, why go down that road, are we also going to talk of planes leaving here with two people and only the owner / pilot returning in short order, with all the air experience he had, must have learnt well to get somewhere and return that fast. Or are we going to talk about diplomatic pouches with drug inside, so big man had to phone the airport (or go) to get man released. Or about how dying in sleep sounds much better than dying on top of a woman? The dead cannot defend themselves, leave it alone.

correction;
that should read ‘far from God’

David

don’t forget the music on the ZR’s, while Rihanna bears it all for Nivea’s latest ad campaign

David

don’t forget the music on the ZR’s, lil Rick’ s music, while Rihanna bares it all for Nivea’s latest ad campaign.

David have you seen the topless photo in the Nivea ad?

IMHO the photo is tasteful and artistic.

lef she lone nuh!

@ New | March 6, 2011 at 6:40 PM |

BU is a BLOG. There are many Topics, Threads, Posts on the BU BLOG that are entertaining.

You went school at de pipe?

To be pellucid, I agree that child abuse is sickening, vile and revolting.

Aloha! I have come to put my 10 cents worth!

I am of the opinion that we should stop looking and pointing fingers at others land look at ourselves. As parents, we have to take full responsibility on how we are bringing up our children. And NOT leave the village to look after dem.

@Random thoughts……. well said!

You know and I know dat incest is a big thing here even though many BLACK people like to think that doesn’t happen. Someone needs to do a survey of the villages in Barbados to see who is related to who. Most of the time they are all related. Many have had children with close family. St. Philip I heard is another parish where almost everyone is related. In the village where I live that is also the case. I mentioned in another post that we need to improve the genetic pool. I was castigated by some one from the UK who stated that Black people don’t practice things like incest.

Children will always be vulnerable to abuse and we as adults and parents must become their protectors. Many adults and parents have become abusers. Before TV, Computers, Porn, children were exposed to sexual acts between adults because of close living in small two or one room homes. Children will learn what they see.

Many children who are sent to church to be under the guidance of Father priest, whose role was to help guide them and teach them how to be moral and responsible citizens have abused them. Many parents would take the priest’s word above the word of their children.

Many teachers have also abused their roles as well. I know of a man whose music teacher abused him continually for many years, and he was forced to go to piano lessons because his parents knew what was best for their child. The boy grew up to be a man, confused and angry can only identify sex with a male.

Many prominent persons holing public office are also offenders. These people are well respected in the community and in the community eyes they can do no wrong.

Until we have to guts to confront, prosecute and expose perpetrators, our children will never be safe.

Wunna tink dat will evva happen in Bim?

@Hantsie

BU does not have a problem with Rihanna. If she wants to bend over and do the 6:30 naked in Hyde Park that is her business. She should not bend over while wearing the title of Youth Ambassador of Barbados however, don’t give a crap how successful she is or how she is putting Barbados on the map according to Reverend Harcourt Blackett i.e. how much money she making. BU is not ready to sell our soul for silver as yet.

What we have a problem with is the government of Barbados who claims they want to build a society compromising their position because of dollar bills.

Great article. I also agree that the horse is out of the stable and we’re fooling ourselves trying to get it back in or casting blame as to how it got out. Present day leaders and thinkers now have to work how best to heal the damage the horse caused while on its rampage and move forward together as a united albeit “sick” state. Too bad though that greed, political expediency and blatant hypocrisy will never let us get to that point.

It is sad to say but discipline within our primary and secondary schools are at an all time low. Speak to any teacher and they will tell you the horrors they are confronted with everyday.
Families drive their so call saints right into the schools and let them loose in an environment where good morals and ethics are no longer seen as important to them.
These children are spoilt to the bone by their materialistic parents who have them calling men uncle and women auntie when father or mother is not around. What do you expect of these children?
They are seeing their parents, brothers, sisters and friends watching porn, smoking marijuana having sex and all kinds of behaviours that have an impact on them. They are just trying out what they are seeing every day.

@Charlie

You are correct, at the primary level the children are reaching the stage of being ungovernable, it is the reason the Bajan middleclass is sending to send their children to private school.

@Observing,
It is virtually impossible in a Democracy to take away freedoms people have become accustomed to.

Bajans have already embraced the North America system of greed driven consumption and I can’t see them changing.
I live in Canada and I became one of the greedy consuming bastards.

Somewhere between “Cuba and Singapore” is a system that can stop de greed an wutlessness.

David of BU.
It seems that you are resorting to the same hypocritical behaviour like the main stream media. Do tell me. What the hell Rihanna has to do with the diminishing ‘moral fabric’ of today’s youth? It seems that certain elements, including you are glued to destroy this person and forget this behaviour is becoming part of our culture and our own daughters, nieces, aunts and grand daughters traverse the night clubs, go into town or the cinemas in the skimpiest of clothing and you know what is hilarious, the same parents drop them off. Lets face reality. Yes!……Rihanna might dress a bit on the outlandish side, but she is still within the laws of public exposure. Could you believe that the Nation writing regarding the Minister of Youth speaking about the bashing of Rihanna, and the Nation couldn’t find a better/constructive photo but use a demoralising photo with Rihanna’s body guard accidentally touching her breast. If the Nation knew that it was an accident why use the photo. But again, what the hell, it is just the same behaviour like BU trying to gain attention.

Rhianna is a product of our society, she learnt it from the streets at crop over where she saw women and men gyrating and performing lewd acts called wukking up in the skimpiest of clothing. She learnt it from TV where she saw these acts of wukking up and it was labeled wee culture. She learnt it from the entertainers who work on the hotel circuit, wukking up to the tourist showing dem wee culture. She learnt it from seeing our menfolk picking up tourist on de beach fuh sex. She learnt it on the beach where our men approach women selling drugs, sex and anything they can sell for money. She learnt it from rich tourist coming here and paying people to bring them school children to have sex with them in their villas on the west coast. I remember that the police were called about a situation like that and they said that they can’t do anything because they have to catch this man in the act. She learnt it from many of the uppity bank girls who moonlighting at night for the rich and prominent on the island. LEFF de girl alone, tek back she diplomatic passport caus she aint got no right wid one. Look how de natives flocked to Cave shepherd by the hundreds to buy her perfume. Admit it we are and always were a hoeing society.

@islandgal246

You are correct, we have to Stand Up!

@Hants,

I learnt to wine and not wuk up. There is a big big difference.

Hants.
My writing hath no friends. I speak my mind and some people might be offended, but I do respect David. However, I differ on this one.