Root of the problem must be found

“WE must get to the root of the problem.”

So says Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite, when asked recently to comment on some of the acts being seen on social media involving the nation’s youth.

He said it will take an all hands on deck approach, recognising that by the time a matter reaches the Attorney General, the matter is before the courts.

“Let us treat to the root problem. If the root problem is the bad behaviour among the juveniles in the schools, then let us give the schools whatever resources they require. We are hearing more and more that we need guidance counsellors; if that is the case, then we will have to find the resources to provide them.”

The attorney general conceded however that it is a complex issue facing the nation’s youth. “Based on what I am being told out of the Government Industrial School (GIS), you are having children who are coming in there with drug-related problems, promiscuous with STDs, lots of anger management issues, mental health issues. And you need to treat to whatever is causing the children to behave the way they are behaving.”

“...And these are just the children who have come into contact with the law and end up at the GIS, there must be others. So we really need to treat to the root cause to be able to train our teachers and others, to identify and know what to look for so that we can reach out to the children.”

The AG lamented that society has moved away from what has worked for the youth in the past.

“Nowadays the teachers turn up if they do, to make noise. Don’t want to hear what the teacher has to say. In the old days, the teachers were well-respected... Now we are hearing of teachers being attacked by parents. Something has gone wrong,” he said.

Brathwaite said the country may soon have to go back to providing parenting classes, recognising that parents must be held accountable for what is happening with their children.

“A couple years ago, we had some parenting classes and the irony is that most of the parents who actually needed us to intervene didn’t attend. But we are going to have to do it all over again in terms of going into the homes, churches and starting all over again how to teach parents, parenting,” he said.

As it relates to the use of cell phones in the schools, he said technology should not be feared. “We need to ensure that they use it and use it correctly,” he stated. (JH)