Cabinet is calling for greater parental involvement and stronger conflict-resolution education as the government considers ways to address violence among young people.
Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet held a lengthy discussion on the issue Wednesday against the backdrop of recent shootings and other violent incidents involving young people.
“Cabinet recognizes that this is a worrying trend,” Merchant said during the post-Cabinet news briefing Thursday.
He said ministers examined how young people respond to disagreements and concluded that many lack the skills needed to resolve conflicts peacefully.
“When young people are at odds with one another, there is no discussion, there is no rational thinking on how to reach a conclusion to that disagreement,” Merchant said. “The only thing that they are familiar with is violence in most cases.”
Merchant said Cabinet identified parental involvement as a central part of any response to the problem.
“What role should parents play in ensuring that certain morals and certain attitudes are developed within our young people towards conflict resolution?” he asked.
He said conflict-resolution skills must be reinforced at home, in schools and throughout communities.
“Young people need to develop within themselves modes of resolving their conflicts peacefully,” Merchant said.
The discussion followed a meditation delivered at the start of the Cabinet meeting by Pastor Baltimore, who raised concerns about youth violence, vandalism and what he described as declining moral values.
Cabinet also discussed expanding surveillance cameras at strategic locations across Antigua and Barbuda to assist police with crime prevention and detection.
Merchant did not announce a specific parental-support programme or indicate when any new youth intervention measures would be introduced.
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WELL SAID 👏
The home is the first classroom.
Cabinet Calls for Greater Parental Involvement to Address Youth Violence…. That hasn’t worked in the US or UK or Jamaica or Grenada or anywhere else so why do you think that would work in Antigua with the youth of today? It won’t.
Declining moral values is a worldwide scourge and if the police here are spread too thin or disinterested or the court system just slaps these criminals on the wrist, then they will keep on doing it. It’s time to make an example of some of these youths and criminals of all ages.
If you want to make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs.
Here they go again, the government putting the blame on poor parenting. Look, around the world there has always been this problem.
Yet, this government will not invest in solving this when some of our youngsters take the wrong route in their lives.
Updating youth facilities is a good start, then followed up by a sound mentoring program, and then solid re-education courses to get them back on track.
However, instead of the ABLP investing in this important initiative, they focus on money wasting exercises like protecting CHOGM delegates who’ll bring their own security.
WHO THE IN HELL ADVICES THE ABLP?
*IN THE HELL …👍🏾
@ Brixtonian
Well who the hell ass raised them? The government?
Take your child to church and raise them with morals and respect.
Train a child in the way he should go and? And what Brix? HE SHALL NOT F’ING DEPART FROM IT.
Government my ass!! Raise your friggin children properly!!!
Did you you not read my comment properly @Seriously?
Not only did I mentioned a resolution for those that slip through the parental guidance net, but I gave a comprehensive solution if any troubled young criminals do by getting some sort of help by the government.
Tell me someting, are you dafter than a brush?
Most of the trouble makers have parents who are not much better than them….The parents prob only have primary level educations and they live in broken homes with multiple siblings…Ripe conditions for a child to look to the streets…
@ SHERFIELD
Get a life: Sex Pays and Antiguans love money. Some get killed
I am in agreement that the parent role in major. So is society, remember the saying it takes a village to raise a child. So is the moral fabric of the country, starting with the government- leadership matters.
We have a major problem that needs to be addressed urgently. That is the use , misuse, abuse of marijuana. This is also the gateway to hardcore drugs.
I was in support of the decriminalization of cannabis. I went to the town hall meetings and found them to be very informative. However, the decision made to allow each household 4 plants and the granting of licenses without proper control is far from desirable. Lots of criminals activities now surround the growing of marijuana. Most of the marijuana grown are sold in Antigua and Barbuda for smoking. On any day the blind can see the traffic going to and from Bendals , New villages and Pares main road and Big Creek to the marijuana growers. The marijuana is now available everywhere, at home 4 plants, at school by children pushing and play – have you been football matches ?
We as a nation, parents, community leaders, community activists, church leaders, teachers and ministry officials, the police, civil society needs to make our voices heard. The government had commissioned some lady to do a research on the impact of the marijuana on our country. I am sure she got paid and most likely handed them the document. Guess it is now sitting on someone’s desk gathering dust.
The Rt. Honorable PM. we are calling on you to be bold as only you can be and make a bold and decisive decision about the growing and selling of marijuana. A few dollars in hands of those that think they earned the right to grow and sell recklessly is wrong. The police hands are basically tied because of the cabinet decision and laws you put to protect them. It’s not working. It is destroying a generation of youth. Note it’s not being grown for medical purposes or for religious purposes. It’s all about money and they don’t care as most drug dealers who get destroyed or killed in the process.
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