We need to get our youths back in the churches

Dear Editor,

It has been said ‘times have changed,’ but this is basically not true. Times have not changed; people have changed. What happened to the good morals, principles and values that our foreparents injected into us?

Where are we taking this present generation as parents, guardians, leaders, etc? Do we care for their well-being, conduct and their lives generally? Now I am not saying that all parents and leaders are included in this category, but there are many of us who do not execute our duties towards children in an attractive and meaningful way. What are our intentions? What are our hearts’ desires for the next generation?

Nowadays, there is hardly a “Good morning,” “Good day,” or “Good evening.” One day as I was riding home from work, I saw a group of school children and I said to them, “Good afternoon.” The reply I received, “We don’t know you,” was far from what I expected. What I leant from this experience is that many parents, teachers and guardians are lacking in one way or another when it comes to imparting values to their children that would result in proper conduct.

Nowadays, children play cricket, football and other outdoor games on the busy roadways, instead of in parks and open fields. These are very dangerous practices which can have very unpleasant results.

Years ago, Sunday was designated a day of worship and prayer. You could have seen the Hindus in large numbers attending their places of worship (mandirs), the Muslims attended the mosques and the Christians attended the churches. Everyone was modestly dressed and many held hands. Today, we have drifted from that and it is not at all strange to find children engaged in other activities, many of whom are involved in crime, drugs and alcohol. Today, Sunday has become a day of sports, village days, barbeques, parties, fun days, etc.

If we check ourselves, we will find that we are the cause of the downfall of the youths and children in our society. The nation’s former leaders never would have encouraged or even tolerated activities on Sundays, other than worshipping and praying. Sadly, it is tolerated now and the result is that our youths are not living to reach age twenty-eight.

We need to get back to the basics. Many will say that the old-time principles can’t work now, but many of those principles are what we need now. We need to get our youths back in the churches where they can be admonished, nurtured and counselled, and thus grow up to be the men and women of tomorrow. We need to start investing in our youths so that even after we pass on, our legacy will live on in the next generation.

Yours faithfully,
Mervyn Gobin