PM Douglas urges stronger families

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas

ST. KITTS, MAY 12, 2010 (CUOPM) – Extreme and deadly expressions of lawlessness by any individual are simply the result of too many instances of wayward behavior having previously gone unchecked by society.

So says St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.

“I feel that we, then, must all become motivated, in the spirit of the nation as family, to become more alert. We must become more alert to the ways in which an ever-expanding behavioral waywardness in many countries, and society’s shrugging acceptance of it, just might now represent those figurative termites taking up residence in all that, together, we have worked so hard to build,” said Dr. Douglas, during his weekly live radio call in programme.

Noting that this coming Saturday, May 15th, is being observed as International Families Day around the world, Dr. Douglas said there is a great deal to be gained by pausing to think about an International Families Day.

He told listeners on the one-hour programme syndicated on five radio stations that the main purpose of family is to provide a sense of physical and psychological safety to children, to provide an environment in which a child’s ability to differentiate between right and wrong is ever stressed, and ever reinforced.

“The purpose of family is for the older generation to pass on to the younger generation the positive behaviors and the constructive practices that have enabled them the older persons to cope, to survive, and hopefully, to thrive – not only materially, but spiritually and morally as well, as higher level beings. The purpose of the family is to instill in young people a clear sense of all the do’s and don’ts, to ensure that they have keen feelings of guilt when clearly defined rules have been violated, and to create emotional discomfort when there has been a violation of another family member’s trust,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

Dr. Douglas noted that healthy societies require members of all families to believe and know – without a doubt – that pariah and outcast status will result from the stealing and selling of other people’s possessions.

“Healthy societies require members of all families to believe and know – deep in their bones – that incest, fathers having relations with daughters, or brothers having relations with sisters, will cause them to be rejected, reviled, and reported to the authorities.

Healthy societies must have parents who are concerned about the character of their children, and family members who treat older relatives with patience and respect. Healthy societies require families – rich, poor, and in-between – to value and recognize, more than being “flashy, more than being “cool,” the importance of actually being “decent,” said the St. Kitts and Nevis leader.

He added that families in which children are encouraged to run and play and sing and climb are far stronger building blocks for society than families whose children obsess over cell phones, brand name shoes, and brand name clothes.

“Families in which both mothers and fathers understand that their most important task in life is to rear good and decent children and good and decent human beings are worth more to the state than gold. For what is a nation but the sum total of the strengths and weaknesses, the attitudes and the behaviors, the character assets and the character liabilities of its people?,” asked Dr. Douglas.