Voices from the streets (Part 4)- Solutions, Solutions
I have decided to title this week’s article in the series “Voices from the Streets Part 4”, ‘Solutions, Solutions’, featuring a conversation that I was grateful to have with Mr.
Mr. Adams is a local, who like many others, has expressed his concerns about the prevalence of crime within recent times and the apparent lack of support for at risk youths. What I found most helpful in my conversation with him were the possible solutions he offered that can quite likely inspire national conversations.
He begun our ‘heart to heart’ lamenting two key issues he would like to see changed; the first being more involvement of young people in community service and secondly the construction of reform schools for school children who are not conforming to discipline procedures in the regular school setting. Mr. Adams shared vividly what it was like growing up as a young man in the Turks and Caicos Islands. ‘Boys and girls were trained to be helpful, and being respectful was the order of the day. Parents in those times accepted nothing less than obedience and a willingness from their children to learn the value of hard work’.
He shared that the inappropriate behavior and poor choices being made by many young people did not begin at the age of 18, but likely as early as pre-school. Hence, the lack of manners, respect and willingness to work hard has cultivated an attitude of disrespect and laziness that has likely contributed to the social ills that are now being experienced in Turks and Caicos Islands.
He held the view that children who went to school and gave trouble should receive some form of community service as part of their punishment, instead of being sent home from school on a vacation. He believed that getting these students to help at various organisations under strict supervision was a good way to teach them values.
Mr. Adams also lamented the absence of reform schools for at-risk youths. He felt that these people float through the system, drop out of school and become menaces to society.
The solutions presented by this concerned citizen may have you going “haven’t we heard this before?” You are quite correct. Yes, we have heard these arguments for the past years in various corners of our society. However, I think the time has come to seriously zone in on the possibility of reform schools that will provide support for at risk male and female students in our communities.
There is no guarantee that a reform school will improve the behavior of every at-risk person, however, reform schools have been proven to make a difference with the right systems in place.
Having this meaningful conversation with Mr. Daniel Adams was inspiring, as he offered solutions that are not unachievable if we all come on board.
