NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2022 8 KEISHA HILL Senior Gleaner Writer ST JAMES is one of the most beautiful destinations in the Jamaica, with many tourists flocking the parish each year. However, since Independence, it has not all been coconuts and sunsets. If you look past the dreamy tourist resorts, you will find a major crime problem, that is closely related to a serious poverty problem and severe lack of education and opportunities. With next to no support, criminal activity is a slippery slope that many young people in the parish are falling down. In 2020, The United Nations Development Programme Report, and data from the Ministry of National Security indicate that, within the last 10 years, increasingly, the victims and perpetrators of category-one crimes, such as homicides, are from the 15 to 24 years age group. Research also confirms that an average of 40 per cent of all known murder offenders in Jamaica, especially the hotspots in St James are young men between the ages of 15 and 24 years. In other words, four of every 10 persons arrested for murder are young men between the ages of 15 and 24. Additionally, in 2020, 16 per cent of murder victims were between the ages of 15 and 24, while 21 and 22 per cent were youth victims, relative tomurder in the years 2019 and 2018, respectively. Youth within this age range are taking up leadership roles within violent gangs, having been groomed by dons and other violent producers to commit gun and other violent crimes. Research further confirms that the school dropout rate among inner-city boys can be as high as 70 per cent. These are the boys and youngmen anthropologists refer to as recruitable to gangs. This data is telling us that our youths are at risk, and according A youth in training at the Positive Youth Transformation project. CONTRIBUTED Positive Youth Transformation Project seeks to provide opportunities for young people JAMAICANYOUTH have a promising future, which can help the country to develop. To progress, as an independent nation, it is said, when young people are empowered, they understand the importance of education, and they will able to help people in the community, especially the ones who are from poor background. They will also encourage students to study hard so that they can be successful and help others. *Devon Williams, who hails from the Flanker community in Montego Bay, St James, can relate to themany horror stories of brazen gun battles on the streets, which have forced him to spendmost of his time hiding in his home out of fear. However, despite his dire circumstances, he believes youth empowerment can reduce crime, and civil society and the Government should do more to educate and provide opportunities for young people in Jamaica. “When the youths are educated there is no way they can go around stealing and committing crimes. If they have a skill, they can create jobs and put food on them table. If the country wants to reduce the high rate of unemployment and crime, then they must empower young people because they have the capacity to do that,” he said. Williams, a participant in the, Positive Youth Transformation Project, in Montego Bay, St James, said young people who strongly believe in their future, will stand their ground, and help the society and country as well. They will take charge of their lives, he said, and they can create things that will benefit themselves and society. The Flanker, St James community is often categorised as one of western Jamaica’s most volatile areas. Well over 10,000 persons reside in Flanker, which sits on the periphery of downtown Montego Bay and adjacent to the Sangster International Airport. Demographic data from the Social Development Commission indicate that approximately 60 per cent of the residents are under age 30, which places greater demand on social services. Williams agreed to participate in the programme because he saw its benefit to the community and, by extension, to the parish. “I think that for me for me, the main thing that I would want to say to young people out there is the best way for you to make your country a better place is to make yourself a better person. So, improve yourself, aim for your goals, your aspirations, and believe in yourself,” he said. *Shanay Davi s, another participant in the project, who hails from the Salt Spring Community, said she had lost all hope in achieving her goals in life. She was not motivated to work, and depended solely on her partner to care for her and their young child. However, after participating in programme, she was inspired to start her own business, and encouraged a number of her young family members and friends to change and alter their way of life. “When I started this programme, I was thinking it was not going to do anything for me. But it changed my whole life and I am a different person now. When I saw the effort that was put into helping us, I had to make a change. They called us every day and check up on us, and always encouraged us,”Davis said. Long considered volatile and prone to violence, the inner-city community of Salt Spring, in St. James, is her home. Davis believes that change begins with targeting the at-risk youth, showing them an alternative to violence and having their minds embedded in the knowledge that education is the key to a life of stability. “If you build yourself and the way you want to see your country, then the things that you do in your community, and within your family will help the country on a national level. Then you will make this country a better place to live. That is the way to go, and that is the way that young people need to start thinking,”Davis said. Youth empowerment can reduce crime jamaica AT jamaica at Children are not born criminals JAMAICA AT 60: MONTEGO BAY
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUzNTI=