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Masks for children or not?The matter of whether or not children should be wearing masks for prolonged periods is not something that should be arbitrarily tossed aside. For long, I have questioned the practice of having children, in particular those aged between three and 12 years, decked out in masks for, in most instances, eight hours a day, sometimes longer.To me it did not make any sense. Now that a firestorm has arisen, which involves the executive chairman of the Sandals/ ATL Group Adam Stewart, who is also executive chairman of this newspaper, I was left to wonder why people decided to inject the atmosphere with messy solutions, instead of spending a bit of time to lean back and examine the entire issues at play.Naturally, there are those who will say that my view is in line with that of my superior, but those who know me and follow my independent line of thinking will determine otherwise.My take is that Adam Stewart was spot on in raising the issue of the safety of having children going around in masks all school day.That has been my view for some time, despite the opinion of some of my friends in the medical field which suggests otherwise. You see, I strongly believe that allowing the younger ones to be involved in a competition with oxygen and carbon dioxide for extended periods can never be good for them.If they travel to school by public transportation, the torture is longer. When they are at school, the only time they are expected to lower their masks is at lunch or break period - not even during physical education practicals. I know. I have relatives in that age category and I have seen some of the things of which I speak. What should happen is, until the COVID-19 situation is rectified, each child at school must be allowed 15 minutes each hour to lower his/her mask, and have an oxygen break.Naturally, I am a mere bush doctor, specialising in soursop leaves and guinea hen weed (not the other bush), but this seems like common sense. As an adult, I cannot keep my mask on for very long, as there are consequences - my tonsils become inflamed or swollen, thereby leading to challenges with my throat. Now, what about the younger ones?Oneil Williams deserves justice, respectThe Sunday Observer has, over the last month, been carrying accounts of a matter that involves a district constable and a civilian in St Mary.Oneil Williams from Rock River community claims to have been beaten up, more than once, by the member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, who is said to be assigned to the Richmond Police Station. But how the police handled the complaint seemed, on the face of it, to be disgraceful.The long and short of it is that the police did not take Williams to be treated at hospital - Annotto Bay or Port Maria - and when he went to both institutions on his own, he was neglected in the manner of a man with leprosy... then told, he said, that his case was not an emergency, and neither was it considered urgent enough to do an X-ray at Annotto Bay. That's sad, for Annotto Bay, in particular, is not an institution that is known to push people away.Had it not been for the kind intervention of private medical practitioner Dr Lincoln Wright - who is based in the St Mary town capital, Port Maria, who not only treated the victim, but did so without charge, paid for certain tests that could not be done at his office, and provided him with money for transportation and meals - Williams would have been in more medical trouble.Later, Apex Healthcare, through its branch in Ocho Rios, did tests on Williams without charge, which also helped to put him in line for his rehabilitation.If this country did not have people like Dr Wright, and Dr Patricia Yap, who heads Apex, Jamaica would have gone under by now.I am not directly in touch with Williams, but I would advise him to seek redress through the courts, which, despite some shortcoming caused by budgetary provisions, remains Jamaica's bastion of fairness at all levels.Some people in uniform, and without, often believe that they are handed superior implements - the gun or otherwise - to batter law-abiding citizens as they like.In this whole scenario I am troubled by the approach of head of the St Mary Police, Superintendent Bobette Simpson Morgan. From reports, she has suggested that Williams, after the battering, signed away his rights to take action against the police. Now, how can a man sign away his rights when he cannot read and write.We hear that something resembling a statement was trumped up and given to the beaten man to sign without it being read to him, despite him declaring that he was illiterate. The statement apparently would have absolved the police from blame.Now, like an unexpected JPS bill, that's shocking!Supt Simpson Morgan should take another look at the matter, with a view to making certain recommendations for the removal of discrimination from the police force.Embracing music that doesn't incite violenceLast Sunday I acted on a verbal invitation to attend a 'drink up' in Seivwright Gardens (Cockburn Pen) in St Andrew - which turned out to be a lovely experience based upon the musical provisions. You can get liquor anywhere. You cannot get good music everywhere. And so, it was with much surprise, pleasantly so, that I was treated to the lyrics of some of the great Jamaican singers of yesteryear, American ones too, and not having to be sentenced to the foolishness that comes from the mouths of Jamaica's nowadays so-called deejay stars, led by Vybz Kartel.For quite a few hours I remained glued, even transfixed by the presentation coming from the sound system of a young man - Shawn Lee, grandnephew of the late Byron Lee of the Dragonaires fame.And then it struck me... can you imagine what Jamaica would be like if we did not have to hear these current day deejays litter the place with rubbish that encourages gun play, violence, and crime?When you listen to Dennis Brown, for example, belt out over 200 singles, and all of them preaching the gospel of love, you yearn to go back to that time.No one is saying that there was no crime in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, but those who are in a position to, can look back and determine whether or not the kinds of crime that are now being committed against women and children, the elderly, occurred at all, or with any regularity in the good old days.So bad is it, and as trivial as it might come across, just observe when these current day songs are played how so many people shape their fingers in the form of pistols and let off steam.As I sat there on Sunday, in the yard that 1970s and 80s deejay Early B used to live - a short distance from where another singer/deejay Super Cat spent his childhood - the music served as the launch pad for deep thinking.If we could have maintained a sort of sober sanity in our music, we would be all saying... 'One Love, one heart, let's get together and feel alright.'Devilish bikers and loud noiseSo, have we settled on the fact that bikers and taxi men are now in control of the Jamaican roads? It appears so. The 'bad driving' continues in respect of taxis, and the motorbikers have stepped up their game in the in-andout- of-traffic display that has now become commonplace.It is a known fact that the taxi drivers are beyond prosecution, despite utterances by the police about the number of tickets that have been issued over time; for issuing tickets do nothing to solve the problems that law respecting motorists face.The taxi men continue to do as they please, plus more. As for the two-legged animals who push down their motorbikes, the outstanding issue of failing to wear helmets continues, right in front of police personnel on the street.But, in recent months, another disaster has arisen - noise pollution. These motorbikes are on a mission to make the population deaf. I swear.Where they get their mufflers to sound like missiles at war sites is beyond me. Of course, that must be operating contrary to the Road Traffic Act, old or new. Again, how do the police handle it? By turning their backs?If the police decide to press the pressure button on these motorists, their actions on the street would be contrary to what obtains now. The first time you throw a taxi man or biker in jail for breaching the road regulations, then you will see how many of them begin to crawl into their shells. But, can we seriously expect that approach to be taken by the police?I have had complaints from many parishes. Only last week a resident of Richmond, the dying town in the heart of St Mary South Eastern, begged for attention to curtail the noise being unleashed upon his family by the insects of the night...even making life hell for the people after 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning - way past the curfew time.The fact that there is a police station in Richmond means nothing. In any case, that same police station accommodates a member of the constabulary who is accused of beating up a man and may be hoping that nothing comes of it. It's a sloppy country that we live in