Dear Editor,
I wish to respond to the letter in SN captioned ‘Allegations of impropriety at St Margaret’s fair misconceived’ dated June 11, 2009. While I agree with the writer for calling on the Ministry of Education to look into more serious matters like the pile-up of garbage in the compound of St Margaret’s School, etc, I must say that the rest of the letter is somewhat upsetting to me since the writer is a parent and seems to find nothing wrong with children being exposed to a school fair where there is lewd music, which inevitably leads to lewd dancing, and where alcoholic beverages are sold. I myself am the parent of a child who attends Starters Nursery School, which is housed at the back of St Margaret’s School, and yes, for the record I was also present at the said fair and was there for a long enough period to note that there was no change in the music as the writer claims, and I could hear the music from my home which is located a few blocks away. Furthermore, to say that a school fair is a fund-raising event, and as such there should be no problem with the sale of alcohol is absolutely ridiculous, since the majority of the crowd present were children. Besides, there are such things as cake stalls, ice cream stalls and games, just to name a few, and which ironically were quite scarce at the fair. Also to compare a school fair with Mashramani celebrations – come on parent, these are two entirely different events, although I must say from past experience the music is not lewd and the children usually have their Mashramani celebration on a separate day from the big parade, so it is somewhat controlled with music appropriate for children.
Finally, I would like to say what we sow is what we reap. If we allow our little children, who are at the learning stages in their lives and are like sponges, to absorb everything around them and feel comfortable in an environment where there is alcohol, indecent music and indecent dancing, that is exactly what we will reap in the years to come.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
