Raise them right! Premier appeals to families over crime
As incidents of serious crime continue to escalate in the territory, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has urged families and community members to play a greater role in raising children to be productive, law-abiding citizens.
Over the past months, the territory has seen an increasing number of burglaries and gun crimes. The police have made several arrests involving persons caught with drugs, guns and ammunition.
The most recent incident involving gun crime was a daring armed ambush of a prison van as it left His Majesty’s Prison in Balsam Ghut to transport a prisoner to court. The ambush resulted in the hospitalization of a prison officer.
Premier Wheatley has insisted that law enforcement officials and the government are not the only stakeholders that can help in stemming the rising tide of crime.
“We all have a responsibility of ensuring that the BVI remains a safe place to live, to work, and to visit. And I’m making a direct appeal to families. Families have to ensure that we do our part to raise persons who are positive, constructive members of society,” the Premier said.
He urged people to ‘step up to the plate’ whenever they observe children engaging in activities that are wrong. “We have to ensure that those activities do not take place and we have to raise our children in such a way where they know right from wrong and they do what is right,” the Premier added.
Premier Wheatley also encouraged community members to play a greater role in helping to raise children, particularly where there is clear evidence of struggling families and single-parent homes.
“Where are the members of the community [in] ensuring that we are our brother and our sister’s keeper and we abide by the principle that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’?” he asked.
The Premier acknowledged churches in the community and said he recognised those who help in strengthening the social fabric of the Virgin Islands.
“I’ll just say to the members of our community, if you see something, say something,” the Premier added. “The silence only favours those who seek to harm our community. We all must be willing to speak up in defence of the Virgin Islands that we so love.”
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Delilah frig this country
Pensions for soon to be prisoners please explain that to the poor children of our village.
One of the few intelligent things that the man has said.
The strength of the Black family began wavering around the late seventies. The cohesion of that family began loosening around the mid eighties, and the unity began to surrender and disintegrate around the mid nineties.
Every Black community, except most in Africa, around the world is now experiencing the results of weak to unusual parenting.
Indeed, the media has contributed to the demise of the Black family by pushing consumerism, materialism, glitz, glamour and gloss over rationality and common sense to the masses.
Hence, the younger generation has then become transfixed, mentally redirected and transfigured socially, emotionally, mentally and intellectually.
Moreover, every Black family has been under attack from said times in the schools where children were/are being deliberately mis-educated,and Black males are severly neglected in and out of the classrooms.
Anther weapon formed against the Black family early in history is the destruction of the family unit by the criminalization and lengthy incarceration of the Black male.
It is said that one cannot teach what one does not know. And where one does know, it is impossible to teach if the law of the day prohibits that teaching from occurring.
For example, the actuality of teen-age pregnancy, which came into being around the late seventies, brought with it several sociological, educational and psychological consequences, problems and issues.
First, the young mother, who was clearly not fully learned nor emotionally or inellectually developed, did not have the correct nor requisite knowledge sufficient to impart to raisin a child.
Added to that, the new and distracting world of consumerism and materialism, most likely contributed to neglect of learning how to raise a child intently and correctly in the first instance.
Second, many young girls and women who were raised in a family structure with a strict to high degree of discipline made a conscious decision to raise their offspring contrary to the child rearing and disciplinary approach they experienced.
Thus birthed the era of easy child raising, non-disciplining, non-corrective parenting, parent child friend relationtionship, creating the mal and behavioral matters in existence today.
Third, the enemy of the Black family, and yes, there has always been one, who choose to believe it or not, and as it always does with its clandestine mechanisms, got our governments to initiate laws that will arrest and punish a parent, person in society or a teacher if he or she was to discipline a child.
They call those laws prevention of “Child Abuse” regulations. In fact, all they were and are the criminalization of Black child rearing as it was done for centuries by Black culture.
It was and is a well thought out sociological mechanism to retard and disfunctionalize the Black family and its subsequent generations.
And, that is what have been manifesting and is manifesting yesterday and today in our schools and communities.
Because the mechanisms of child rearing have been criminalized, removed from the home, community and school, no child can no longer gain the necessary home or community guidance it should receive and thus benefit from.
As a result, the girls who through history has always been completely sheltered and protected escapes, while the boys less so ends up seeking his own head way early in life.
This issue needs more space in order to give it thorough treatment. Nonetheless, herein is a synopsis of the origin of our current “youth behavioral” problems of the day. Indeed, our village can no longer contribute to raising a child. Its hand has been legally and sociologically tied.
My goodness ca**l face again talk about putting food on the table
Unfortunately, the findings of the COI, the previous premier heading to jail along with the previous head of Ports does not support what this Premier is preaching, the rot started at the top, and, the current government’s reaction and contestant commentary about the COI does little to suggest anything has changed. The BVI in general has a serious credibility problem that needs attention before anything will change.
is the only cure now. Forget the family unit and the village raising the children. All 18 to 20 year old persons in the BVI subject to mandatory military service for a minimum of 3 years outside the BVI. No pardons, excuses, deferments, etc ALL 18-20 year olds!
Whose miliary? The UK does not conscript its subjects. Such will only occur if one volenteers. The other is if there is a war like world war two where multiple nations were involved and losing massively.
The cure is Black people getting back to their senses and their communities finding, dusting off and putting to work what has worked in the past for generations.
And, casting away imported parenting and child rearing methodologies and restoring the methods of the ancestors and ancients.
Are the criminals expats or children of expats???
We need to know who are these people. Locals? Expats? If expats, control the migration from those countries. You need also to count the prisoners’ nationalities
See something, say something…to who if the police stations are empty?
If you have read EV’s comment and saw fit to put a thumbs down for it, something is truly wrong with your mentality. Truly you are the kind that criminalizes TRUTH. There is nothing contrary in that vlog that require athumbs down. Pitiful soul.
communityraiseschildren
@EV
Well written post, I endorsed this message. The government and it’s laws are the contributing factors to this whole thing.
Parents must be able to discipline their children without the interference of the so-called outside entities.
My parents raised me right and I am a better person today because of the proper discipline I received growing up. Today I am a parent and I discipline my children and they are better for it.
If parents don’t discipline their children, then the same government who set laws for your child to call the police will do it for you by throwing them in prison. This is total madness, may God help us as a society.
@EV You have made many valid points. They not only concern the BVI but the region in general.
As you state, the deterioration of family values dates back to the 1970’s. One of my many commentaries published in Beacon newspaper during the 1980’s and 90’s, related to the difficulties the traditional extended family face in coping with the influx of foreign values.
To R. Burnett and Faith:
It gives some satisfaction to note that a few scholarly ideologues, family and people oriented thinkers and Black parent supporters read and showed their approval for the published post/blog.
It is hoped, however, that many parents, not just one, and especially the young ones do take a read, or are guided to read it.
Of course, the purpose of the post was to inform and present valid points and facts on the issues of mal behavior of our male youths in today’s society, and as a rebuttal to the Premier’s response to the issue.
Often, it becomes apparent that officials appear totally disconnected from the root causes of authentic problems.
Certainly, many have attained vigorous educational exposure, which in turn should open up the minds and intellect to view deeper into issues.
Besides, with extensive educational training and years functioning as a music educator at R. O.M.P. S., B.F.E.C. and E.S.H.S., acquiring many valuable experiences, and in-depth analytical excursions into the domain of child and young adult behaviors, their school and societal functionalities, their self awareness and their relatable cognitions, all, at some point appear with inconsistencies, spectrum related and dysfunctional.
As a result, the governing body, government policy, the state, its capable and qualified inhabitants are to discern the root causes and how combined approaches will reconcile and solve the persistent issues of the youth of the day. Medicine seeks to find the root of pathology.
The post sought to point out the root causes of the pathologies causing mal behaviors in youths, with the prime focus on the Black Male.
There is much to be learned therein that can be used to begin to fix the broken problem. However, it will require, will, dedication, intellect, perseverance and desire for success.
It is up to those in positions of authority and power to extract, develop and act, not with band aids, quick fixes or psuedo methodologies or wait to incarcerate..
@EV
I likewise thank you for having the insight and courage to speak out.
Regrettably, many of those that judge, decide and rule on these matters, do so from a privileged position and without the experience of raising children of their own.
The country look up to its leaders too. What moral principles are you modeling ?
Every one of the leaders names get caught up in scandelous affairs.
They have no respect for their marriage vows
Let us look at the homes :
More than the average household is a single parent home where the father is missing
Those with both parents – father is cheating/ mother and father cursing each other over unfaithfulness
– children watching the abuse
– parents don’t care or do not acknowledge the emotional scars this has on their childhood
– lthe church quiet on emotional abuse
Parents don’t care how and if their double standards behaviour affect their children
Mr Prime Minister you are oart of the problem
They are expats specifically expats from the upp er Caribbean Islands and their children.
As it is in their originating country. They are who they are. A poisonous gift that keeps on gjving.
FINALLY!! said something correct parents should educate their children apropiate not to become criminals and crazy ! correct! parents shouls go jail too with them