Dear Editor,
I wish to express my disappointment regarding the altercation between two young female students from Linden which resulted in the stabbing and subsequent hospitalization of one of the students. I watched the video with pain for the student and utter disappointment as I also observed the callous nature of the onlookers. As a teacher for over eighteen years and a qualified Social Worker, I am here to declare that we cannot have a callous approach or a mind-my-own- business approach towards violence among our youth.
We should be our brother’s keeper. We can no longer have a hands-off approach as it relates to our youth. We must not stand idly by as schoolchildren fight or enter into altercations with each other. Some of the adults who were present should have called the police or threatened to call the police even before it got to the stage of the stabbing.
It is my belief that this situation was avoidable on every level, therefore, I hereby recommend that we revert to the village approach that proved successful in times past to ensure that this unacceptable behaviour is not repeated. A cultural shift must take place. Should parents follow these steps, we will be able to avoid and minimize these incidents.
As a society we must see ourselves as part of the solution. Healthy families produce grounded and responsible children. We as parents, aunts, uncles and older relatives have a vital role to play in disciplining the young members of our family. Parents must no longer oppose other relatives who attempt to instill discipline in our children. We should welcome this discipline as this discipline could save them from getting into serious trouble. There is great value in this, we must appreciate that someone else other than us loved our child enough to correct them. Love is not only about emotional expressions or buying of expensive gifts but it is about correction and discipline. When we allow others to correct our children, our child learns respect for authority.
There is a colloquial saying, “I mek this child, but I didn’t mek his mind”. Today I am here to refute this statement as it shirks responsibility of molding the mind of the child, to the child. Parents must know their children’s friends and associates, check their children’s school bags, check their phones and by extension their social media accounts. Many children have cyber wars, they post demeaning and horrifying things about each other on WhatsApp and other forms of social media.
Educate your children, let them know that if trouble occurs that they should call for help, and I repeat, “call for help” not try to stop it themselves. Tell our kids to call for help instead of filming fellow students being bullied, and hurt with the intention of further humiliating the students and putting same on social media.
Let us teach our children to walk away from trouble and avoid trouble at all costs. Even if they are provoked they should call for help. Tell your kids to go home immediately after school and forbid loitering. Know who are your children’s social media and phone contacts and last but not least do not be afraid to seek counselling for your children.
We must get involved, these simple steps could stop problems before they start. I am convinced that if these best practices are followed that we will be able to avoid and minimize violence among our young people. We can condemn the act, but we must employ best practices to avoid future incidents.
We all have a responsibility to our children and the youth of Guyana, so let us all work together to build a strong and safer future for all of them.
Yours faithfully,
Jermaine Figueira MP
Region 10
