My heart always goes out to them and I wonder what kind of parents send children as young as these to school alone or to buy something or other.

It is totally irresponsible of parents to leave their young children to roam the streets without adult assistance. But it seems to be the practice all over. You come across it in a lot of vicinities.

It hammers home my point that we really do not care for our children. A lot of us see them as necessary for the family unit and that is all, hence our careless attitudes towards them. These children could be knocked down by a car, defiled by some pervert lurking around the corner, or get lost. And yet day in and day out we expose them to all sorts of dangers.

The other day, I was standing in front of a shop waiting for a cab when this woman walked by with her child of about two years. But she had left the child to walk on the wrong side of the road and left her to her own devises while she chatted to her friend.

But when a car nearly ran the child over, this woman, instead turned around to beat up the poor child for not paying attention to the road. I couldn't help my anger so I told her off in no uncertain terms. If the car had ran over the child she would have wailed like a banshee at her loss.

What is wrong with our sense of responsibility? You go to buy kelewele and you find a little child standing by the boiling oil and I suddenly have visions of the child putting a hand in the oil or the oil splashing on the child as the plantain is put into the boiling oil.

And there are so many instances I could cite of children in danger due to the careless attitudes of their parents. C'mon lets get real for children are a precious part of our lives!

…and prostitutes Whenever I drive by the 'red light' district as I call the area by the Cantonments Roundabout I look at the girls clad in their skimpy clothing and the mosquitoes that must have a field day everyday, not to talk about the bugs and the rain and I say to myself' there must be an easier way to make money.

And what about the tedious hours standing around till all hours of the morning especially if they don't score in snagging some man? And the hours on end on their backs with men of all shapes and sizes not to mention the different dangers...Can you imagine being humped every hour by some smelly man, or a man with ticks, or a man so hideous you would not want to spend even a second with him and yet these women lie on their backs and sleep with all these men.

But it is a profession that some of these women will never give up on. To some, it is a lifetime job until they get old and can't turn anymore tricks in bed. For others, it is a means to an end and it works well for them and yet more others who just love the thrill of the chase and the many men they can sleep with and make money in the process and it goes on and on.

There has been talk of legalising prostitution and it has brought about some heated debates from all over. But we all know that prostitution is the oldest profession and as old as the hills and can never be got rid of till kingdom come.

That is the hash reality. There will always be women who will offer sex for money and men who will oblige them. It could be your smelly sweat-drenched labourer to the nobility in the high echelons of society. You might be surprised who in your life may have had experiences with prostitution or slept with one as the case may be. But we love to sit in judgement and stereotype people so much so that we think only a certain type of person goes to the brothel or picks a call girl on the street.

Prostitutes provide a service for men and for women because there are male prostitutes even if not so popular around these parts. Some men will go to a prostitute to satisfy sexual needs they can't satiate anywhere else for all manner of reasons.

Others just love the thrill of sex for sale. Then there are those who love to sleep with a prostitute because there are no strings attached or emotional entanglements. It is purely sexual and they are on their way.

There are three types of prostitutes. The street pros or street hooker, the brothel pros who operate from a house established specifically dedicated to pros and lastly the escort/outcall pros.

This form of prostitution often shelters under the umbrella of escort agencies who supply attractive escorts for social occasions. These women in this category are called high class pros because they play to the high and mighty and charge a fee accordingly.

Now they say these days there are more of the third kind than any other and they are more prone to spreading HIV and other STDs I am told. Because they play for higher stakes, and therefore don't care to protect themselves because the money gets better without the dreaded condom.

But generally your run of the mill pros will use a condom but how many of your friends have engaged in a one night stand of unprotected sex on a Friday at a stag night or fraternity party? How many of them may have had sex without even remembering it the next morning, much less remembering to put on a condom? Prostitution has always been around and always will be.

Generally people want sex but not everybody has access to a consenting partner in their personal life so some will resort to releasing sexual tension by going with a pro.

We might not like it, we may consider it to be a sin, but that doesn't mean that those that pay or get paid for sex should be arrested or ostrasized. A lot of people are of the belief that, if prostitution were legalised and regulated, the act would be a lot less risky for both prostitute and client.

Let us deal with the problem head on instead of behaving like ostriches. And some schools of thought think the simplest and most effective way to get street walkers or prostitutes off the streets is to decriminalize pros, make them set up their shops in buildings and get monthly or weekly check-ups and health certificates.

Even though it sounds like promoting prostitution some other schools of thought even think that if we tax their practice and let the government make some money off the deal, it would be a win-win situation.