There has always been the debate among scholars, politicians, religious people and society on a whole on whether to distribute condoms in the schools in Jamaica. No one seems to have

the perfect answer but there are convincing arguments from both sides of the issues to support their conclusions.

The deal is that children as young as 12 years old are showing up at health centers with sexually transmitted diseases (STD). We all agree that for these children to have these diseases they must be engaging in sexual activities. The question is who is having sexual relationship with these children? You can almost guarantee that in many of these cases the sexual partner is not 12 years old.

Many believe that to issue condoms to young children in school is like an endorsement of sexual activities. This we can understand. Knowing how our young people think, they may believe that the teachers are saying that it is o.k. for them to have sexual encounters. On the other hand other people also believe that the children are going to engage anyway so why not prevent the spreading of disease or unwanted pregnancy by issuing the condoms. It is really a no win argument.

The best way out of this dilemma is really to educate our young people about sexual responsibility and the importance of abstinence until they reach that wonderful age. However, this in itself may be a great challenge for a country, which is lacking of resources. With the conditions of some of our schools and a demoralize staff, we are just barely making it teaching ABC. Also with the moral decadence that our society has fallen into most young people would just laugh at the abstinence philosophy.

This is not another burden to put on our church. Our church leaders have their hands full trying to explain why Jamaica has so many churches and yet so much corruption. Whenever something is going wrong in our society we turn to the church for the answer, forgetting that most young people in Jamaica do not strive on the philosophy of the church. The local Dj’s have more influence on the young minds than the local preachers. This is not exclusive to Jamaica. In the USA the Rappers enjoy the same privileges.

On the condom thing, to tell you the truth I really do not know the answer. Maybe we should just put the condom machines beside the coke and cookie machines and let the youngsters decide.

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The behavior of Jamaicans in regards to sexual activities needs to be changed. Many seem not to realized that it is not business as usual. Having sex is like playing

Russian roulette with your life. But why should someone take such chances? Why should some people lack the respect for themselves and their body as they continue sleeping around with Tom, Dick, and Harry if they know the dangers of STD? Some people sleeps with others knowingly that they have other sexual relationships.

It is full time that we take life more seriously and behave in a dignified manner, respect yourself and demand respect from your sexual partner. There is nothing wrong if you are not sexual active. If you want to find the right person who would respect you and your ideals. That is not too much to ask for. There is nothing wrong with having a relationship with some one before you become sexually active. It is very important that you know someone over a period of time and if you do decided to have a serious relationship get tested for STD before becoming sexually active. In this case both of you will be on the same page.

Abstinence is the way to go but many will say I am not realistic. If you cannot abstain then you should protect yourself. The choice of protection is condom, (booths). Even though this does not protect you 100%. The only thing that does protect you from acquiring STD is abstinence. Mark you there are other means of becoming infected with HIV and other disease such as blood-to-blood contact. One has to be careful of there surroundings and protect them.

According to a research done by the Research Development Specialist, 20% of tourists reported that they had sexual encounters while vacationing in Jamaica. Most of these encounters occurred with Jamaicans and

other tourists. An alarming 51% reported that they did not used any condoms. The survey was done as a report on HIV/Aids and the Tourist industry.

Another frightening report is that 14% of tourist believes that HIV cannot pass from one person to the other. This is very dangerous thinking.

Jamaica is well known in the tourist circle as a lovemaking haven, with Jamaican men gaining the notoriety of possessing the “big one.” The Jamaican women are known for their acrobatic body movements also. The Jamaica Tourist board and hotel advertisers have from time to time subliminally send the ‘good time message’ out in their marketing blitz.

Remember also, movie like ‘When Stella Gets her Grooves Back’ a few years ago sent many single women to Jamaica looking for their grooves and many of them did get it. Now in Jamaica the new terminology is that they will get the ‘Daggering’ whatever that really signifies. Nevertheless, the astonishing part is the lack of condom usage. This will only intensify the spread of aids and HIV throughout the island.

The tourist board and the hoteliers can band together to educate visitors and locals on the dangers of unprotected sexual encounters. We hope they do not try to eradicate the pleasures of the daggering, this will not work.