Dennie Quill, Contributor

Grumblings about the decline in morals of the nation's children and the rise of freely accessible sex have stirred up a tempest in our beloved island. Various commentators have expressed shock at the seeming obsession with sex that is driving schoolchildren - girls and boys - to perform sexual acts in public.

As I listened to these discussions in the media, I reflected on my own adolescent years during the '60s, when an intrepid classmate may have secured a trashy magazine and sneaked it into school, curious eyes would cast furtive glances at the 'thing' hidden beneath a desk. Then there would be little embarrassed giggles at seeing those images. However, if teacher ever got wind of it, the student and the entire class would be in huge trouble. This may even necessitate parents being summoned. That was then.

So what has changed since the 1990s? Why have we become this sex-crazed society where little girls find it difficult to keep their panties on and little boys' zippers are always down? The answer is clear to me: The media landscape has changed. Radio has lost its appeal, the breakthrough in fibre optic technology and satellite communication has enabled the growth of cable television. Regulatory oversight has also weakened. We now live in the digital age where music, movies and entertainment are obsessed with sex. Sexual language, topics and conversations are reaching children before they can recite the alphabet.

Illusionary morals and ethics

And if you think that is an exaggeration, consider this. A five-year-old girl attacked a classmate in the bathroom at school, knocked her to the ground, then proceeded to engage in oral sex. I was stopped cold when I heard this story. At five, this child had already developed an appreciation for pornography, and I am told she is not unique.

Today, morals and ethics are illusionary concepts among a significant number of Jamaicans. Cultural historians point to the fact that during the '50s and '60s there was no Internet and no cable. Today, explicit sex is available on the Internet, on cable, on DVD and elsewhere. Billions of dollars are being made via the sex industry and there is no indication that the beneficiaries are about to change their tune and develop a menu of programmes which could be deemed in the public interest. So, conceivably, we will continue to be bombarded by explicit sex and the question can only be, how far will they go?

There is no doubt that television and cable do offer good choices. It is also undeniable that teenagers and adolescents are curious about the world they face with its new challenges and, as they grow older, they are being left on their own more often to make important decisions. So what about parents, some people ask? Are parents neglecting their role by not establishing boundaries for their children's television and Internet usage? Parental guidance is necessary in television viewing as much as it is needed in helping children establish meaningful friendships. Many children who come from a home in which there is guidance about what is age-appropriate behaviour become exposed to others where there is no duty of care. So it is also important to know your children's friends.

Parents partly to blame

A large part of the blame for this new society of sex fiends must be laid at the feet of parents. This kind of behaviour does not happen overnight. It happens gradually: your daughter wants to show more skin and her outfits get skimpier; your son has a television set and computer in his room and he is always locked away; your daughter starts to demonstrate the 'dutty wine' dance and you laugh at how cute she is. These are dangerous signs and if ignored could lead to disaster.

Then there is the Broadcasting Commission. The time has come when this agency needs to take a close look at the use of social networks like MySpace. It is an open secret that sexual perverts are lurking on many of these networks. All over the world, groups are coming together to develop safety tools to protect children who surf the Internet. Jamaica is heading down a slippery slope and the Church or some other organisation needs to help to pull us back.