Dear Editor,
Capitol News questioned several lawyers on their Monday, May 20, broadcast on the phenomenon of the numbers of youths before the Magistrate‘s courts on serious criminal charges, while comments made at the vigil broadcast two nights later brought responses of bewilderment from those questioned and, of course, hints of neglect on the parental front. But it was the response of lawyer Vic Puran in the first broadcast which simplified the matter by stating erroneously that young people “don’t want to work, etc.” I take offence to the escapist pronouncement of Mr Puran on the grounds that he was not unmindful of the process which enveloped this country in a criminal culture that with the complicity of the state, corrupted every positive social value system. The ‘Roger Khan’ period legitimized the community of drug trafficking, recruiting hundreds of young men on both sides of the ‘murder fence,’ and allowing some, including policemen to get rich by imposing a criminal class on the value system of this nation with rights above the law. The impact of that criminal phase on the human and economic fabric of this society has not yet become public debate, and attempts are made to pretend it never existed.
A generation of Guyanese has grown up to ‘sanctioned murder,’ drive-by shootings, and the arrest and disappearance of brothers, fathers and neighbours. There is the accepted presence of ‘junkies,’ as well as privileged drug dealers and hit men who are merely arrested and released when they commit murders or any offence, and who work for members of a certain elite. In the towns and a city saturated with rubbish, human filth and fallen humanity that seems not to be the concern of any authority. Are we not witnessing the consequences of the legacy of the era when Bharrat Jagdeo was President?
The PPP destroyed the National Service because it was Burnham’s idea, ignoring its skills training centres, discipline and character moulding in the interest of national responsibility. Parents today are hardly able to provide the basis, much less the environment for an education system that seems unsure of the textbooks they will use for each school term. Assignments have to be done on computer, with computer stations meeting computer, printer and software requirements, plus ink and paper for printing. When I attended school everyone wore the proverbial ‘Bush Clarks,’ so there was no taunting or dress disputes. Not so long ago the Police Force was picking up youngsters from as young as twelve years old in several Afro-Guyanese villages and passing them through the criminal process of finger-printing and detention.
I can cite numerous cases in which the state cultivated or ignored lawlessness for its own callous reasons and spite, and all though that national nightmare, the members of a traumatized young Guyana were themselves involved. How old was the young man whose genitalia were mutilated, or the children of the disappeared cane-cutters and Donna Herod, as they stood witness? In the case of Donna Herod, Clement Rohee justified what had happened by blaming the village.
I am the father of the male endangered species; it required me on several occasions to escort my son to the police to solve disputes, while he complained, “Is a waste of time; dese people and de police good.” Only honest and tedious work from the very level of leadership with stern examples can assure a generation that we are a nation of laws. For example, let charges be laid against certain functionaries for mischief concerning public funds, conspiracy with organized crime and attempts at electoral fraud, then I’m sure the nation will step back in line through responsible leadership.
Parents are indeed culpable; during the late eighties a negative materialism emerged with the new found money from suitcase and marijuana trading, and the brand-name nouveau riche emerging. In that period I gave one of my children a sum of money to purchase school items, and the child went to the Vendors Arcade and bought brand-name sneakers. I took my child back, demanded my money in no nice terms, while relatives and other acquaintances reproached me. I responded ‘yard style’, directing them to do as they wish with their own children. My child was able to get a bag, strong, brandless sneakers and some school accoutrements; the child did well at school and today has a significant career. In my day I wore the best, partied a lot, but I grew up.
At the funeral of my friend‘s father some years ago the pastor lamented that he was invited to bless a new home, but was astonished to see all the electronic equipment which had been installed with the latest DVDs and CDs, but no space for the children to study and no evidence of a bookshelf or books in the home. A philosophy has to be imparted to parents; we must not assume that many of them, rich or poor, understand or know that fashion and advertised luxuries on TV are not intended for public mimicry. Today, that nouveau riche culture has expanded to the extremes of political nepotism, strangling all else.
Much work has to be done with our educational system. The last Minister of Education was a disaster. I will give one example of concern. I was asked by a member of the Lions to assist with preparing graphic posters at a primary school. On more than one morning we encountered a youngster who was outside the class and who asked us to buy something for him to eat. Unlike Vic Puran, we recognize the constraints of many homes, including ours, and we complied. On one occasion he was outside the class because he had hit another student, a female; we both enquired from the teacher what his problem was, and she replied, “Some ah them I ent able with.” We proceeded trying to digest what she had said. After the third engagement with the children we realized that there was no art teacher at the school. I protested, explaining that at the primary stage art was necessary to teach them concepts, to allow their imaginations to develop, because art has mathematical principles which can be activated in young children. This teacher told us, “They will learn that in secondary school; they don’t need art in primary school.” We endured this because we were all in the classroom with the youngsters, thus the failure began in this case with the teacher herself. Mr Puran must know that the Magistrate‘s courts are the end result for many whose frustrations incline them to think, wrongly so, that the evidence around them that crime pays, also applies to them.
Yours faithfully,
Barrington Braithwaite
