The Alliance For Change in expressing profound sadness at the recent fatal stabbing of a teenager allegedly by one of his peers and is calling for a national caucus to address teenage violence.
“We need to transcend the political divide and come together to design and implement a workable solution or the problem of teenage violence will be the death of this nation’s growth and development,” the AFC asserted yesterday.
In a statement read at the AFC press conference yesterday by Member of Parliament Cathy Hughes, the party said that “something is fundamentally wrong with our society when our young people feel that they have no other recourse to ending an argument other than with a weapon which usually ends up with someone losing their life.”
The AFC also expressed its condolences to the family and relatives of Shane George “whose life was taken in such a premature manner.”
“Our prayers are also with young Akeem Roberts who is said to be responsible for the death of George and who now faces a murder charge,” the AFC added.
The party described the recent incident as a most tragic situation of “two young men on the threshold of adulthood where one is lost to us forever and the other will never be the same.”
According to the AFC, this incident speaks to an emerging category of violence in Guyana when in February 17-year-old Anfernee Bowman was stabbed to death and another teenager, Samuel Cornelius, has since been charged with his murder.
“This must be a concern for all of us, politicians, religious leaders, the judiciary, educators, and parents, indeed all of society.
We can no longer sit and give platitudes to this ill that is threatening the very future of our young people and our country,” the AFC maintained.
In this regard, the AFC is calling for a national caucus to address teenage violence, whether in the schools or any other place, as the party believes that this problem requires the intervention and input of all of society.
The party said further that collective approaches must be found to tackle this problem since it is not one only for the government or the opposition, single parents, the judiciary or any other single group.
“It is a problem that affects all of us. In the cases of George and Bowman, not only are the families of the victims and the accused affected but the many more young people who witnessed these incidents, they too are traumatised and will forever be affected by what they witnessed. Society has a responsibility to these teens also.”
The AFC says that all political and class differences must be put aside to address this ill before it takes firm root in the society, the statement added.
