Dear Editor,
The first major cause of crime is caused by poor family conditions. In our country we have lots of people into single-parent relationships. In some cases women have children for several different fathers. Most times these fathers will leave these women alone with these children in poverty, thus a life of poverty will push young people to commit crimes.
The family structure is severely damaged in Guyana and as a Reverend/Pastor I have visited hundreds of broken homes where I see real poverty and human degradation. In most homes there is a missing father or mother and children are brought up with a single parent or a grandmother, aunts or uncles, and no one to guide them spiritually, morally and academically. These children will either attend school and then drop out, or will never have the chance to attend school. Most of them will be illiterate and that will push them into a life of crime. Even the rich and educated live a life of broken marriages and their kids grow up on drugs and alcohol, and become a total failure in society. Sometimes many fathers and mothers will brag about how many children they have, but when asked about these children’s achievements they are dumb. The responsibility of parenthood in our country has deteriorated beyond repair.
Another major cause of crime is drugs. A person addicted to drugs is unable to support their addiction so they end up in a life of crime to fuel their drug habit. Most criminals use drugs before they commit a major robbery that involves murder, rape, arson, etc.
Besides that there are also a large number of people who are involved in the drug trade. Though these people may not really be drug users themselves, they often lure others into drugs and crimes of murder and prostitution to help them get rich. Though we see the small man on the street committing crimes, there are bigger motivators behind them controlling and directing them as to how, where and when to make a hit. Most times the small criminals will never call the names of the masterminds when caught and interrogated by the police.
TV violence has gone up to staggering levels, and it does not help when people are influenced and try to emulate such acts of violence. TV violence is a major cause of crime, especially among younger people who are unable to differentiate between fiction and reality. Since TV has become such an integral part of people’s lives these days, it is important to draw clear lines between what is real and what is not. With the advent of ipods, iphones and computers it makes it easier for people to download movies of a violent and evil nature. People who feed their minds on murder movies, violence and violent music eventually will live a life of crime.
Bad company is another cause of crime in Guyana. Some very decent kids associate with bad kids and the bad kids influence them to do wrong things. It’s not so easy to train your child properly and send them to a school or university to mix with hundreds of untrained students. They suffer from peer pressure and do all sorts of things you would never anticipate.
Money is another bad influence on young people’s lives. Some parents are to be blamed as they give their children huge sums of money to spend beyond their expectations. And that child grows up with an attitude never to learn to work hard and save, so they follow bad company and a lifestyle to get rich quick. Then they commit crimes even though they may be educated and rich, because for some parents it’s great to give their children any and everything they ask for, which is definitely wrong. I know of many rich educated teenagers who don’t work; their parents give them everything up to age 25 so they find things to do that’s easy ‒ they use drugs and steal and then they end up in jail or die young because their failed parents never taught them to be responsible at a very young age.
In conclusion, we need to bring back the family structures by teaching our children to be responsible and live a life of marriage, and be excellent parents to their children. Poverty, illiteracy, drugs, easy money, TV violence, bad politics, failed churches and organizations have contributed significantly to crime that has caused our nation to deteriorate. The wise man King Solomon wrote: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
If we teach our children moral and spiritual values we will live in a crime-free society; our prisons will be soon empty. Real education starts in our homes with our parents. I believe the major problems facing our country are moral, spiritual and educational; we need all three to live decently in society.
Your faithfully,
Rev Gideon Cecil
