BECOMING YOUR BEST SELF

Sep 27, 2018 Editorial

The statement that “education is everybody’s business”is more than a cliché; it is a fact that all responsible stakeholders in society should collaborate for the benefit of educating all children. Traditionally, in Guyana, many believe that the responsibility for educating children should be placed squarely on the shoulders of governments. It is time citizens recognise that educating children cannot be adequately addressed solely by governments. There must be widespread involvement from all stakeholders at various levels in society.
Schools must be manned with teachers and other professionals to help children understand the importance of education as they grow into puberty and beyond.
If not, we will continue to lose our children to crime and violence. The subject “healthy family life” should be added to the education curriculum to teach children about the purpose of being born, the challenges in life, mistakes they should avoid, their purpose in life and learning about how to pursue their dreams. Children should be taught about the hurts, disappointments, hatred, love and unhappiness they are likely to encounter throughout life’s journey.
At birth, we are basically animals, with two biological instincts that motivate us—sex and aggression. We are like the other animals that are warm blooded and suckle their young. In the animal world there is no reasoning and only the strong survive, but humans have the capacity to reason and understand. We have power and wisdom to think for ourselves and to choose our life’s path, whether good or bad, successful or failure.
Schools and society in general should teach young people how to manage their sexual and aggressive nature. They should know that behaviour change is not magic, it is hard work. And if they do not change, they would be like animals which fight in the street. Children should not be brought up under these circumstances.
The societal culture into which children are born nurtures their consciences. Culture gives them the prescriptions by which they must live, and the prohibitions that teach them to be decent citizens and to keep their society safe. It informs them that they are their brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. If a child is born into a culture of crime and violence that will be his/her orientation to life. If a child is born into a drug culture, that will be the behaviour prescribed for him or her.
This supports the saying that children learn what they live.
Young people who are having sex and getting pregnant without understanding the reason for their being on earth and learning what they need to do to achieve their dreams, will not become their best selves. Giving in to their sexual nature could make life difficult for them. Children must not be left to the mercy of their biology. They must be taught to control their sexual and aggressive natures. They have the power to think for themselves and to choose their good. This is the divine in them.
One psychological theory talks about the fact that the best time for marriage is between 30 and 33 years for both men and women. This is the age at which youths should question the choices they made earlier. Those who are of sound minds and are mentally healthy will have the opportunity to restructure their lives, and those who are not, will continue to live tortured and unhappy lives. But if they are full of faith and purpose, they will know that they were not created for never-ending unhappiness. Some will probably have children who will be exposed to the unhappiness and would reflect it in their behaviour.
To all children still in school or who have just left school, do not let the animal in you determine your future. Know that understanding your sexuality is about understanding your humanity, your femininity, your masculinity, your power to think and to choose your good, your dreams and your attitude to life and your divinity to become your best self.