The touchy topic of juvenile delinquency
“Consider the consequences of your actions, if you do not want to come face to face with members of the Royal Barbados Police Force and end up being classified as a juvenile delinquent.”
This was the stern message an officer with the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) delivered to a number of campers just about two years ago. The topic of “Juvenile Delinquency” held centre stage for the campers attending the one-week residential Project S.O.F.T. (Safeguarding Our Future Today) camp, which was hosted by the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) at the time.
“A lot of delinquency happens because we listen to other people and we let other people influence us. At secondary school, it happens a lot. You see a lot of children who leave primary school as the best student, you hear this boy is a little angel, this girl would do anything you ask her, she’s nice. Then, after a year of secondary school, you hear all of the reports that this body is not learning well, this body is not committed to school, they are fighting all of the time, a lot of different things are happening with them and a lot of it is that you are being influenced by the things around you,” the officer told the young campers making the transition from primary to secondary school.
“So the first thing I want you to do, is think about the choices that you have to make. That is the start, in terms of not becoming delinquent,” the officer admonished.
Pointing out to the campers that delinquency sees young persons offending or committing a crime, he listed a number of at-risk behaviours that can see young persons going down this path. He noted that at-risk youth at times display aggressive behaviour and even violence, act out in a sexual manner, get involved in substance abuse, make suicidal statements, lie, steal, cheat, run away from home and exhibit a pattern of chronic truancy, where they stay away from school.
Those at-risk for juvenile delinquency also stand in danger of being placed outside of the home and have likely had negative contact with agencies in society, such as the school, church, law enforcement and other societal structures. These at-risk youth have likely been touched directly by the consequences of the social ills in society as well, for example, substance abuse, promiscuity, physical abuse and the like. However, the police sergeant told the young campers that they can avoid going down the wrong path, by thinking ahead and making positive choices.
As stated, that was just two years ago when the officer touched on the topic of juvenile delinquency. Now we are hearing increasing calls for a juvenile court to be established in Barbados.
A hot topic of late as well is the matter of violence in schools, since a number of students who act violently, end up as juvenile delinquents. More and more of our students are being labelled as “juvenile delinquents”, given the negative behaviours they display or the horrendous acts they commit while on school grounds or in school uniform. Therefore, we can no longer bury our heads in the sand, but we must acknowledge boldly that we have a horse that has bolted from the stable where this issue of juvenile delinquency is concerned. Now we must put our heads together, to rein in that horse.
Whilst we need a whole of society approach to tackle the issue of juvenile delinquency, what is clear is that parents and guardians need to step up to the plate and play a greater role, indeed a more positive one, in the lives of their children. Model behaviour by parents and other relatives can give motivation to a child to behave positively and this will be key down the road, as the peer group exhibits a very strong force over adolescents. We can acknowledge that sometimes the immediate family unit has nothing to do with the delinquent behaviour exhibited by juveniles, neither do the juveniles’ teachers or neighbourhoods. There are sometimes personal reasons that play a part. Whatever the causes, it is time we admit we are having a problem and seek solutions across the board, to ensure that more school children do not end up as “juvenile delinquents”.