Dear Editor,

There ought to be nothing alarming about your article "Teen goes home drunk after school outing" (23-2-2002) if the causal attitude to our moral decadence is reflected on.

Has anything tangible been done to address the numerous acts of indiscipline and lawlessness in diverse areas that have been occurring in our school system. One school in East Canje is described as a drug store and hotel. The incidents of drug sales and use, of illicit sex among students and teachers, gambling and juvenile delinquency in schools have been allowed to nurture and become monstrous and normal.

With reference to this incident of the child admitting drinking beer - can or should we expect better when we have turned a blind eye and exhibit no moral qualms to an advertisement saturating our young and innocent minds and eyes with the statement that "Our beer is our life" (Banks). Here especially young girls are paraded expressing the exuberance and satisfaction of drinking beer. This particular advertisement has been on at prime time for the longest while and we all know the effects TV has on consumers.

There is also the advertisement of cigarettes (Bristol) which can convince many that when you smoke that brand you are actually in nirvana (Heaven).

What are those who should be protecting consumers doing? Do they not perceive anything objectionable about "Beer is our life" and making cigarette smoking glamorous.

It is reasonable to assume under these circumstances that building, repairing and painting schools take precedence to morality and discipline. The breakdown of order in schools reflects on the communities and vice versa. A rigid set of principles must be implemented if a revival is to have any chance of success.