THIS week has been hamstrung by a number of gruesome murders with one such morbidity being the savage slaying of another teenager by one of his peers. You would agree that the alarming rate of teen crimes is cause for concern, especially when you realise that these are the sons and daughters who have to take their places as parents and future leaders of tomorrow.
And may I say what a future we are formatting when half of our boys will either be in jail while a considerable number would be running around with knives and guns shooting and killing.
The figures are equally appalling when you look at the number of our womenfolk who would have met their demise at the cruel hands of a domestic abuser, another telltale fact of our dismal existence. The sad story goes on and on.
The morbid picture I have painted for you, my readers, is not a Guyana problem only, but one that is worldwide in scope as the problem is multifaceted in nature. The murderous rampage did not spring up on us as spontaneous occurrences, rather, they are pointedly the result of some sad facts in life. The reality is that many of these youngsters come from homes; well to be frank with you, many have no homes taking “home” in its truest form or homes where no form of respect or discipline exists.
Discipline and I am incorporating the element of flogging because I am from the old school which teaches a child to be respectful of others and other people’s property. It forces that child to pay keen attention to boundaries; one cannot act or do as he/she pleases it simply does not work that way.
The social scientists of the day have outlawed such virtues and have erroneously called it stifling individuality, cruelty and the ever popular term ‘child abuse’. It is an American nonsense that we have adopted here and are now reaping the murderous rewards; teen violence is at an all time high and rising.
Let’s put flogging aside for another forum and let’s focus a while on bringing up kids who are well mannered and disciplined. It takes great skill to accomplish this task with the primary pillar being the home, school and the wider society out there. Again, the home features prominently where the problem looms greatest. Yes, you want a Blackberry or in this case, a brandname shirt; then discipline yourself to get a weekend job and work for it.
But when you have homes where the modus operandi is you want it then take it “by any means necessary” – the bullying mentality of the age. The lyrics of the popular disc jockeys aren’t helping the situation either, glorifying violence (especially those against women) speak of illicit sex as if it’s the norm and the all too familiar grab what others have and make it yours. That’s the reality of our times. Church and moral qualities are derogatory terms, just do what pleases you the individual and forget about the other person out there. When teens are brought up in such an environment then the cruelties of the past week will become regular occurrences. God forbid.