"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul
than the way in which it treats its children." - Nelson Mandela, former
president of South Africa
Let me start by asking this question: What is happening to
our nation’s children? There have been a march in Clarendon against the
violence against our children, and there is also another march that was organized
by Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). I think that is a good
initiative but I also think it is not enough. Parents ought to be more responsible and stop
neglecting their children, stop selling them. Our society should know the value
of children and stop senselessly killing them. When I examine how humans are
treating their own, especially our children, it makes me wonder. It shows that
intelligence doesn’t necessary mean that we are better than other species, for
clearly in the animal kingdom, the young must be protected at all times, what
of humans? We should be a shame of ourselves! Let us examine how the young are protected in the kingdom Animalia:
Elephants
Elephants give new meaning to the phrase “it takes a village
to raise a child.” The baby ends up with an entire herd
of mothers, all of whom take turns watching over each other’s children. The
term for these other female elephants is “allmothers” and they help ensure the
newborn's survival by taking the load off of its mother. It frees her up to
rejuvenate and obtain enough sustenance to provide milk for her child.
Tamarins
It might not take a whole herd, but in the world of
tamarins, it does take a couple of men. Tamarins split the
parenting duties a little unevenly, requiring the males in the group
to do all of the heavy lifting once the baby is born. Tamarin females have a
statistically high rate of twins, and after the hard work of birthing the
tykes, both the father and another male will step in to raise them. They team
up to carry the kids around and protect them, only requiring the mom to feed
them on occasion
Alligator
When a female alligator gives birth to her litter, she
spends the next year of her life protecting her babies from other gators
looking for a snack. A lot of the time this means corralling her kids into
her mouth— yep, sharp teeth and all! — to protect them.
Emperor penguins
Emperor penguins go to great
lengths to care for their children. After giving birth, the female
emperor penguin will leave the family behind to replenish her body at sea,
leaving the father to take on all of the parental responsibilities. For two
months, the father will carry his egg around on his feet and forgo eating until
the mother returns. When she does, she’ll regurgitate some of her food for the
baby, while the father takes his turn out at sea. Cooperative parenting at its
finest!
Orangutan
The bond between an orangutan mother and her young is one of
the strongest in nature. During the first two years of life, the young rely
entirely on their mothers for both food and transportation. The moms stay with
their young for six to seven years, teaching them where to find food, what and
how to eat and the technique for building a sleeping nest. Female orangutans
are known to “visit” their mothers until they reach the age of 15 or 16.
Cheetah
Cheetah mothers raise their young in isolation. They move
their litter—usually two to five cubs—every four days to prevent a build-up of
smell that predators can track. After 18 months of training as hunters, the
cheetah cubs finally leave their mothers. The cubs then form a sibling group
that will stay together for another six months.
Having looked at all of that, what of us? “We are in grief
and shock over the execution-style murder of three schoolchildren in Clarendon
last Wednesday night along with 35-year-old Marquis Hamilton in the Monymusk neighbourhood.
The three promising students, 14-year-old Ricardo Briscoe, 14-year-old Raymond
Givans, and 16-year-old Alex Turner were made to lie face down and shot in the
back of their heads by two gunmen.” (Jean Lowie-Chin, Jamaica Observer
Columnist, April 25, 2015). That is what we are doing? Intelligence makes us no
better in animal kingdom, we should be ashamed of ourselves.
The Elephants are the one that I admire most, the concept of
“all mothers” is quite astonishing. But what of Jamaica. “Santoya Campbell, a
14-year-old Westmoreland girl, went missing on January 26 and her body was
found, two days later, stuffed in garbage bags under a bridge. According to
grief-stricken relatives, Santoya, who was a grade eight student of Frome
Technical High, did not reach school after leaving her home early the morning
she went missing. Following a post-mortem it was found out that Santoya was
pregnant.
Similarly, another 14-year-old girl, identified as Kayalicia
Simpson of St Thomas, was hacked to death and her mutilated body dumped metres
from her house on March 3. Police reported that about 5:00 am that day, the
grade eight student went outside her house as she prepared for school. About
half-an-hour later her body was found lying face down in bushes close to the
one-room wooden structure in which she lived” (Jamaica Observer, April 25,
2015). We were told that the mother knew about the killer, and that she was the
one that arrange for her child to seek money from him. Intelligence makes us no
better than other species, we should be ashamed of ourselves.
"Safety and security don't just happen, they are the
result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the
most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and
fear." - Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa
