Youth Meditation by. Hollis Prentice

Good morning my fellow Christians, it is a pleasure to address you on this our family Sunday. As we are trying to cope with the economic crisis that is affecting the world today. We are also faced with the break down in our society and our home when it come to respect and discipline among our youth, especially our young males.

My focus this morning is mainly on our young males particularly in the area of their dress. The image of a person is very important, mainly because one can be easily indentified. As we move around the streets of Basseterre and beyond we realize that young males wear their pants beneath their bottom exposing their under garments. Their shirts are usually out of their pants regardless of the function or activities they are going.

These types of dress have now entered into the schools, college, some work places and shockingly the church. The church is where Christians come together to worship and give God thanks and praises.

Therefore it is very important to give God our very best either by participating or dressing appropriately. We often say “the Lord said to render your heart and not your garments”. That is true but I can truly say some of us use this statement and come to God’s house dressed as we feel and not giving our Lord the best that he deserves.

I believe that why some of our young men dress like that today because we fail as a Church and as family to set proper example for them to fellow. Therefore parents/guardians if you have a young male in your care please I beg of you to examine and correct his inappropriate dress whether in the home or on the streets to. The church and the community on a whole please let us instill respect and discipline in these young men.

Young men pull up your pants, put your shirt in your pant, parent/guardian STOP buying these excessive pants and shirts for your son’s.  Ensure that their hair is properly trimmed and combed.

Young ladies please tell the young men to dress and behave appropriately at all time because they are the future husbands and fathers.

Young men let me tell you a  secret no matter if you have 9,8,7,6,5 CXC or CAPE passes whenever you  go for a job interview the first thing that a manager looks for is your dress code/Image as you enter the office. And if your dress code does not meet the company’s standard tell yourself the job is not yours.

In conversation with a young lady who studied political science and who educated me about the various cultures in different parts of  the world,  expressed sadness about how we here at home and the whole Caribbean region is losing our African culture. Years ago the family worshipped together whether you were a part of a nuclear, extended or single parent family going to church on Sundays was a must and mothers or grandmothers were the ones to  make sure that everyone in the home was properly dressed before leaving the home for church or whatever the occasion was. I ask the question, “Does this tradition or culture still exist today?” the answer is clear you do not need me to tell you.

Some young men are under the notion that hair braiding is part of our African culture but history will tell you that they are wrong. No country or tribe in Africa ever practices hair braiding it is distinctly a female practice. You would not find a traditional African male braiding his hair.

 Hair braiding, loose fitting clothes, ear piercing etc are all part of an America/Jamaica thug/gangster culture.

Parents/Guardians when your child dresses this way it attracts this culture to your child and it is not long before they become involved in more serious practice related to that culture such as crime and violence

It is a culture that glorified criminality and subversive behavior that is disrespect and disregard for God, the authority, leaders, elders, the home etc.

It is evident that young ladies are excelling academically. It really seems that women really want to take over the world they are doing jobs that are traditionally done by a man. Now young men we have to be focus in life the world is moving rapidly let us concentrate on positive things like education, respect, discipline etc. Just like the sporting arena, the court room, and some work places they do have dress code that we have to obey and respect. So therefore let us develop a dress code for ourselves that will reflect decency, respect and discipline not only for ourselves but for the church, the school and the general public. Remember, “Image goes a long way and first impression counts.”