Around this same time last year, I published an article in connection with a visit I paid to the Probation Department in Barbados on 28 November, 2000. The visit enabled me to obtain some useful information about the functioning of that department relating to juvenile offenders; probation of offenders; maintenance, regulators and rules; and prison welfare and after care service. I am motivated to publish some portions of that article again because hardly anything has been done to help our young people with their problems.

During the visit, I learnt much about the youth and the rage among them in Barbados and other Caribbean islands. However, I noticed that in spite of the problems facing the youth there were certain procedures and facilities in place to help the young offenders which we do not have in Anguilla.
Financial assistance may not always be available but through the efforts of the Probation Department and others, such as the Welfare Department, the Drug Rehabilitation Unit, the Psychiatric Hospital etc in Barbados, such problems are brought under control.

When I think of what we in Anguilla had and shared 20-25 years ago, to what we have now, the social problems and especially the violence and the rage among our youth, and that nothing has been put in place for them, I tremble. A great deal of the deviant behaviour by young people has been chronicled in a report entitled A portrait of adolescent health in the Caribbean 2000.

It is a thirty-eight page document which I understood was distributed around 22 November 2000 to about twenty-five parliamentarians from throughout the Caribbean, who were meeting in the Bahamas to launch the Caribbean Movement of Parliamentarians for Population and Development. They were assembled by the United Nations Fund For Population Activities which has been financing population programmes in Barbados and other Caribbean states for years.

Some of the findings suggested that the problem of violence among Barbados and West Indian youth was far more deep-seated than many experts had believed. Many of the young people surveyed reported a history of violence in their lives. About 18 percent stated that they had been physically abused. Many of them remained worried about being sexually abused mostly by adults in and outside the home. Two out of every five young people surveyed in Barbados and other islands, often thought about killing themselves or others.

The report noted that 10% of the youth surveyed had been in a fight in which weapons were used. At least 12% reported carrying a weapon to school. More than 16% were knocked unconscious as a result of an act of violence. The teenagers explained that rage, physical or sexual abuse or both, skipping school, their parents’ mental health problems, parental violence or suicide were factors in their violent ways. Theft and damage to property were not uncommon, according to the report.

Since 1988 I have been constantly dealing with students who are engaging in acts of violence at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School. They are doing so in school as well as out of school. These students have formed gangs and armed themselves with weapons as a means of settling their disputes.
It is disheartening to know young people (or I could even say ‘babies’) engaging in sexual intercourse, using drugs and alcohol in school, skipping classes, shoplifting, vandalizing school property, using some of the dirtiest language and even threatening the life of teachers and students.

I have visited the homes of some of these children and parents themselves are crying out for help.

What I have noticed is that many of these children come from broken homes and live with a single parent who is out working most of the time. The parent or parents themselves are frustrated and most of the time they too become very abusive and may even agree to sending their own child to jail because they do not know what else to do.

The problems often lead to violent acts in the community and schools. I recall a fight outside the grounds of the ALHCS. The fight, which involved school-leavers and school children, eventually ended up on the school grounds. It was a serious fight in that seven Police Officers were present in an effort to resolve the matter. Fighting in school is one of the major problems.

Other problem areas include drug and alcohol use at home and school, stealing (which is becoming worse) and sexual activity among young children. It is very disturbing to see where our youth are heading. In most cases when these acts are committed, the offenders end up in court. Some are placed on probation with curfew. There are no Probation Officers to supervise them so they are still left without supervision. In fact there is no place of safety to put the offenders.
It has been said that the Police Barracks will be used as a place of safety, yet it is not ready for use. There have been instances where children as young as 12 years old who have been continuously committing offences had to be sent to prison because there is no other place for them.

Many of them have to leave school because of behavioural problems and are on the streets. There must be some means of helping them to stay out of trouble. Yes it is true that some children are not interested in learning and will roam the streets anyway, but if there were some place to put them, then those who are not academically inspired may very well be kept out of trouble by using their manual skills.

Most of us will blame the home for the behaviour of our children, while some of us may say the Government is not doing anything to help. The issue here is not pointing fingers or blaming anyone.
The onus is on all of us. My heart goes out to mothers who are crying for help with children who are going astray. We are a small community and I firmly believe that together we can get our youth back on track. I do not believe that it is too late. I am willing to do my part, but together we can do so much more.

I am suggesting that we first start with Probation Officers in an effort to tighten control on the offenders and seek to find alternative education for the youngsters roaming the streets. May God grant us wisdom and understanding to tackle these problems in 2003.

God bless us all.

By Michael Fleming

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