Guyana’s most important resource is its human capital and people. This country simply cannot progress without sustained focus on lifting the standard of living of its people, through increased socio-economic investments in projects which will have positive effects on their livelihoods and ability to create and store wealth for their families over the next decade or more. A national strategy must be devised to respond to those social ills which threaten the life expectancy, overall health, productivity, happiness, and safety of the Guyanese people.
Guyana must work assiduously with key stakeholders at home, within the region, and further afield to ensure that a new culture is created, wherein young people are encouraged to develop creative industries and newer forms of technology that would see them being actively involved in the overall developmental thrust of the economy.
They must be convinced that in order for them to lead satisfying and long lives in the future, they must work now to create the world that they want to live in, through the establishment of goals, standards, and innovative ideas that would be useful and applicable to the changing times ahead.
In short, young people must also be indoctrinated in the art of philosophy and the science of ethics and acceptable conduct, so that they can easily appreciate the notions of equity, social justice, and fairness. They must be properly schooled by their superiors — who are leaders in our society today, including their parents, teachers, and community elders — to stand against all forms of discrimination, racism and gender victimisation.
Sadly, enough emphasis is not been placed on the aforementioned approaches to improving the quality of life of Guyanese, and young people in general.
As of late, there has been a stark increase in the levels of youth crime in our society, and, most recently, in schools, where children were seen attacking each other with cutlasses. In one instance, a gun was found on a student at a city secondary school. This has called for the suspension of schools and the intervention of the Police, Education officials, and stakeholders. Only recently, the Minister of Education stated that there needs to be a holistic approach to deal with the situation – one that has to involve the religious community, Police and other organisations.
On the same issue, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, has issued a warning that this sort of behaviour of our children has to be clipped in the bud. He also stated that if we allow the situation to escalate, our school system would resemble those in the Western Hemisphere, where children and teachers are killed.
As such, Lyte suggested that in face of this violent behaviour of our teenagers, especially boys, teachers would soon have to protect themselves.
This form of behaviour would lead to teenage offenders being written off at a young age, regardless of hard circumstances or minor offences. In spite of success in developing opportunities for young people over the past 51 years, we hope more focus would be placed on preventing youth crime, as it can have the potential to affect our country’s trajectory.
Even in the Guyana of old, when it was acknowledged that a stronger support system fostered respect for self and others at school, in the home and at church, there were a few who strayed into deviant behaviours.
With a changing social network, a weakened family structure, and the addictive lure of social media, is it any wonder that we see more youths today being led down the wrong path?
Exposure to violence and sexual deviance poses a huge threat to young people’s lives and moral make-up. It is widely acknowledged that the tree should be bent from young. If poor training is not arrested in its tracks at a tender age, it can spiral out of control and result in serious crimes that affect the whole country. And we, as a society, can no longer afford to turn a blind eye, harping on the fact that “something must be done”, but not willing to do the work, help mentor a young person, or press the political class to enact crucial policies to change the tide.
