Be Responsible

I thought I was going to get around to writing about that delectable meal I had at the Hilton on Saturday....

My heart weeps for the mother of the little girl who drowned at Miami Beach on Sunday as well as for the family friend who will never forget this...children and negligence do not mix. The sea is no respector of man... Watch your children...ALWAYS!

It was with a great sadness I read in the Nation Newspaper about a little girl just seven years old who drowned at the sea. I am not a mother so I can't imagine the  mother's pain but 4 years ago my brother a 6ft 5inch 20year drowned at the same beach.  My brother was an adult who got up that Sunday morning and drove to the sea. My brother as tall and as strong as he was could not fight the sea and as a result lost his life. I sympathize with the mother of that little girl and my heart grieves for the loss of a such a young life yet I cannot help but wonder why adults continue to believe that the sea can be likened to a splash pool in one's backyard.   

We need to teach our children to love and respect the sea, and learn to swim.  It's interesting how, in an island as small as Barbados (166sq miles) we have so many people who don't know how to swim. Even those that can swim need to understand that the sea is no respector of man and we need to act accordingly.

As I read the article I thought that for the rest of her life, that lady (not the mother) who took that child to the sea will always wonder what she could have done.  We can't bring the little girl back but we can try, by speaking out, to save a life to come.  Parents/Guardians need to be a bit more responsible for their charges.  I have no children but I have countless cousins and have always been responsible for taking them to picnics at the beach, to the park, to fairs and countless other occasions.  Even when I give them the opportunity for ''free play'' my eyes are always glued to them, watching their every movement. Things, which we regret for a lifetime, can happen in the blink of an eye. 

A few weekends ago I was at Agrofest and every 5 mins during the day there was a call for parents/guardians to collect some little one from the police outpost.  Some of these parents/guardians need to be charged with some type of negligence at these events especially when you can hear the announcer calling for the parent/guardian some 20 minutes after the initiall announcement.  I cannnot understand how persons can so easily allow children to wander off at an event filled with hundreds if not thousands of people.  Fortunately for us, this is still Barbados but adults need to be more vigilent and realise that we are here to protect the children and keep them safe. Negligence cannot and should not be excused.