Young people need guidance

The young people of this nation need guidance and we need to have patience when we are interacting with them.

 

These are the thoughts of the President of the Barbados Association of Guidance Counsellors (BAGC), Saul Leacock, which he shared during the launch of this year’s National Careers Showcase that was held at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (UWI) on Thursday evening.

 

“Young people need guidance and a lot of the behaviours that we are seeing being manifested are due to a lack of consequential thinking,” he said.

 

Leacock noted that sometimes it is best to keep them occupied with positive endeavors, such as the National Career Showcase, because the “devil finds work for idle hands”.  He explained that this guidance does not only come in the form of teaching them how to control themselves or the attitudes that they have towards certain situations but also in terms of the which career path they wish to embark on. 

 

He added that it was also important for the adults to have patience when interacting with the younger generation as well. Leacock expressed that this patience is important because children usually make the same mistake more than once and added that it was a part of their jobs as guidance counsellors to ensure that they are on the right path career-wise, behaviour-wise and attitude-wise explaining that what makes a person stand out in society today is the ability to have good communication, social and problem solving skills.

 

Adding that their aim as an association is to encourage young persons, Leacock said that the career showcase was not centered on solely helping students in obtaining or looking for a job or occupation, rather on looking for a career for life; “something that blends with their personality, their skills and talents and interests.”

 

The President went on to say that this is one of the solutions that the BAGC has come up with to help the young people stay out trouble by keeping them meaningfully and gainfully occupied in the pursuit of their future careers.