Dear Editor,
There is a news release about prohibited items (weapons it seems) found at Tutorial High School. Yes, we know, the society is violent, many youths and adults walk around with weapons, licensed and unlicensed, allowed and prohibited – in anticipation of attacks on the person from other citizens. So will there be other news and stories from Tutorial High School? Will the students with the weapons be allowed to talk why weapons have become part of their school items?
The Head teacher and staff alone cannot be responsible for dealing with the legacies of violence in our society, that the students bring in from the society into the school. Will there be other stories and press releases from Tutorial and other schools in Guyana, and the communities around them? Or would it just be seizing weapons, and hoping for the best?
A search for ‘violence’ in the trillion dollar budget speech showed focus on domestic violence, but no commitment to dealing with the violence in communities , the words ‘healing’ and ‘wellness’ do not appear in the vision for ‘prosperity’. So maybe, prosperity will not mean stories from the schools and the communities of the schools beyond the seizures of weapons and prohibited items.
Sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon