Image source: Jamaica Observer Sometimes I sit down and think to myself as to whether or not I would really want to bring a child into this world under these conditions. When watching television here in Jamaica, one of the most popular sentiments you will hear is " We want justice" but how many of these cries are actually heard?  Like many other things here in Jamaica you can get certain needs depending on or only if you are 'Sir Tom or Miss Prudence' living in a mansion. Justice does exist but exist for a selected few and that is the truth of the matter. We can take our eyes to overseas and see the fear that people live in because of a justice system that has failed them but we can keep our eyes right here at home and realize that this system wasn't created for us 'average' Jamaicans.    We have to learn to educate ourselves so that we can use our voice and not accept any and anything that is served on a platter to us because we don't kn...

I attended  basic and primary school in the heart of Spanish Town. I then went on to attend high  school in Kingston. Through it all I remained in Spanish Town and for almost 24 years I've called Spanish Town, Jamaica my home. The stigma attached to my community is known worldwide and not much is expected of the people who call it home. Despite the odds against us several high achievers have emerged from Spanish Town. However, I'm not here to focus on Spanish Town today I'm here to speak about the struggles of young people in Jamaica. While the leaders of my country are busy arguing over apologies, having elections and making decisions about prions,our country is falling apart. Young ladies are being attacked and killed, young men with dreams of making a difference are being killed , young people are graduating with qualifications but no job opportunities. Our leaders have all these visions of hope but apparently our safety comes last on their list of priorities.  Wa...

Growing up many of us were encouraged to either become a doctor or a lawyer. These professions were always placed high on a pedestal and we were told that these are the jobs we should aim for. Firstly, I always wondered why the people who encouraged me to choose one of these paths were not working in any of these capacities. I grew up as a child filled with questions and I would question my parents about everything. From a very young age I loved writing and I knew that I wanted to spend my life doing this. My parents on the other hand never encouraged that dream of mind as I was always encouraged to become a lawyer or a doctor.  When I listen to children on our primary and preparatory quiz competitions the most popular professions are lawyer and doctor. We neèd to encourage our children to look at other paths. Many of us will not be able to become a lawyer or doctor either because of finances or because we don't have the intelligence for it. Parents need to realize that everybody i...

Everyone is struggling with something or another and we all look for answers in either things or people. When we are vulnerable we sometimes tend to forget to properly analyze the source that we take our advice from. Believe it or not these days there are a lot of people who will take advantage of your vulnerable state and feed you with the worse advice at the time when you need the best of advice to help you move forward. Many people have ended up in far worse situations than they started out in just because they quickly ate up the advice of others. Everyone is different and different strokes work for different folks. Someone may have the best of intentions but that particular advice isn't the best for the person that you are. When we are vulnerable we have to still be very careful about the people who we decide to take life changing advice from because at the end of the day they aren't the ones who have to live with the consequences.

In times gone by the definition of a trophy wife was that of a  young, attractive woman married to an older, more powerful man. His role in the relationship is to be her sugar daddy and provide her with power and material wealth. In several circles this definition still stands but in majority of circles it as simply become a man just parading a very attractive woman on his arms. Her main attribution is that of her looks and every other quality is down played. The scary part of all of this is that an increasing amount of women are going after such titles, they are quite comfortable with just being with a man for her looks and nothing more. Perhaps you aren't looking at it from this angle but when you get a trophy you are very excited about it for a while you put it on the highest pedestal you dust it down and you try your best to keep is safe. After a couple days or months you walk by it and you don't even remember to wipe it down. The excitement is now a thing of the past its g...

In our daily life journey interactions  are something that either helps us or breaks us but either way we seem to always be in search of some form of interaction. In recent times, we see more and more posts 'no new friends' 'can't trust anybody' ' world is filled with fake people' but I started to think more deeply into this and came to the conclusion that perhaps we expect too much from people. We expect that our friends will always be there for us that they will always have all the answers to our problems. We feel as if they should never do anything to have us questioning the friendship and things should always be perfect. Do we often forget that they are humans just like us? are we able to provide all the things that we expect from them? We expect that our partner will always be the most romantic, the most understanding, the most loving every single day of the relationship. There are days when I don't even feel like seeing anothe...

Mother's Day is coming up a do many of us are either excited to show our mothers how much we love them or we will spend the day thinking about the memories that we shared with them while they were with us in this earth. Many of the life lessons that we go by each and everyday we were taught by our mothers whether they be good or bad. These days many mothers seem to use their child as more of am accessory than a vessel to be fed with the right nutrients needed for both physical and mental prosperity. For those who perhaps aren't aware as mothers it is important for you to do the best you can to teach the best values to your children. There are those who have mothers who have neglected their responsibilities completely and they are left to learn on their very own. For these individuals it's important that we who belong to the wider society impart knowledge to them as best as we can. Teaching your child is very very important but many of us either forget what we were ...