The above is part of a statement found in the Bible as readers of the Holy Writ would quickly observe. It appears to be a prophetic declaration tied to the advancement of knowledge among young men down the corridors of time and certainly inclusive of this present period.

Be that as it may, one needs to hope that our young men today, and in our case in Anguilla, will eventually rise to the challenge to fulfil that prophecy. The fact is that right now our young men are being marginalised. How much of this is society’s fault, cannot be accurately measured. It is more believed to be a lack of self-motivation, vision and responsibility on the part of a good percentage of the island’s young male population.

It seems that in almost every case Anguillian young women are excelling in many fields of endeavour, leaving the young men behind. Of course, it is high time and reason for pride to see females measuring up either equally with the males or taking the lead. Womenfolk have always taken, or relegated to, the back seat in life not only in Anguilla but elsewhere in the world and were forced to exert themselves through hard work and what is generally called “women’s lib.”

Women have always been discriminated against in the home, dominated by their male partners, on the job in terms of levels of employment and pay and in many other ways not possible to recount here. Even in Biblical times women were not given the regard due to them. One reads about such and such a man begetting sons but rarely of daughters being born. It has been, and continues to be, a long struggle for women along paths of recognition and achievement, but they are now the ones who appear to be the major achievers in various instances.

In Anguilla, the girls are exceeding the boys in school. The top results of the CAPE and CSEC Examinations shown on the front page of this newspaper are a good example with only one male student being among eleven girls. There are many other cases where the boys are falling behind their female peers. A look at the public and private sectors reveals that women are excelling the men in positions of employment, influence and decision-making. For example, women are running the Department of Public Administration, Immigration Department, Judicial Department, Inland Revenue, Treasury Department and other leading organisations and offices. Women are building their own houses and in many cases performing double roles as the mothers and fathers in the home.

Our young men must ‘step up to the plate’ as the saying goes, to catch up with their female peers and maintain a level of equality, achievement and respect in various areas of life. They must see visions in which they can be objects of admiration, all-round success and leadership, standing shoulder to shoulder with the hard-working womenfolk. They must not only see, but grab the opportunities before them and run away with them. If our men and women are both visionaries, Anguilla will stand to gain much as we race down the corridors of time.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News