GUYANESE have become animated over the recent attempted robbery at the Republic Bank Water Street branch one way or the other, including what may have been responsible for three promising young men trying such a daring criminal act.
That Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, has said that he will address the incident at a seminar next week on crime and youth violence is commendable. It can no longer be ignored or dusted under the carpet that something is amiss in this society with this new class of criminals emerging.

This demographic is young and educated, as in the instance of the Republic Bank incident. There are several reasons being put forward and in order to get to the bottom of the crisis and address same, every idea tabled should be critically evaluated. In the media-driven, instant gratification, glamourisation of crime, weakened family structures, disregard for mores and norms, poor enforcement of laws, high unemployment, corruption and peer-pressure environment, the young are being exposed to too many incidents and actions that are counter-productive to living a life that rewards integrity, good behaviour and hard work.

While the aforesaid reality does not ignore that there are amongst us young people being exposed to the same influences and have not gone astray, it cannot nor does it justify ignoring that these factors play a role in influencing anti-social behaviour. Where white collar criminals are allowed to retain their jobs and walk freely and blue collar criminals can find association amongst the political elites and connected, such influences are bound to have toxic impacts on some impressionable minds.

Where government officials, elected and appointed, in a short space of time moved from rags to riches, on salaries that would not so allow them, they set the tone for what could influence others to feel it’s OK to do likewise. More so when officials, in the private and public sectors, are not held to account and their actions defended or covered up, and where in our society the spit press is very potent such is likely to see copycats in various forms.

What makes the situation worse is that oftentimes criminal acts are perpetrated by persons in high office, well connected and with little or no consequence borne. Where rapaciousness exists at the highest echelons of society, family values eroded — given internal and external factors — it makes sense in the process of examining and before condemning to ascertain where society has failed the young and what can be done to halt and reverse the decline.

About two-thirds of the population is 40 years and younger. For most of their lives, this demographic has seen criminal behaviours nurtured, flaunted, protected and defended on a scale unprecedented in the nation’s history. Most have come of age within the past 30 years which represent five years under a PNC Government, 23 years under the PPP/C, and two under the APNU+AFC.

The World Health Organisation defines adolescence as the period between 10 and 19 years, saying these are the formative as well as impressionable years when the maximum amount of physical, psychological and behavioural changes take place. It goes on to say, “Healthy development of adolescents depends on several interactive and complex factors. They include the socio-economic circumstances in which a person is born, the environment in which he/she grows up, his/her inter-personal relationships within the family, peer-group pressure, values of the community in which he/she lives and the opportunity for education and employment.”

This is a society that was nurtured on conservative values, where adults preached and practised the wisdom of sparing the rod would spoil the child, which does not necessarily mean sole application of corporal punishment. There was a time when a premium was placed on the village concept of raising a child, where the teacher, neighbour, religious community and extended family played integral roles along with the parent (s).

Though the extent to which proven values could be recaptured could be debated, it nonetheless does not prevent recognising the crucial importance of creating and fortifying structures that will demand and ensure that the older lead by example. There remains no wisdom in expecting better from the young, where thinking and actions to ‘do as I say not as I do’ holds sway. The young are the future and Tuesday’s incident is another stark reminder of the importance of teaching them well.