With our Jamaican athletes setting us apart in the recent IAAF World Championships, by dominating and putting so many people to shame, Jamaicans can have– if only for a brief moment – a sense of pride. Pride in knowing that the world is seeing the good we can do and how much we can achieve.

However, in the midst of what is supposed to be our moment to shine comes the unpleasant and rather embarrassing news of the five Jamaican students who were arrested and charged for theft and conspiracy to commit fraud. This, readers, is why we can’t have nice things. We are not saying that crime committed by Jamaicans at home isn’t horrible, but crime committed by a Jamaican anywhere outside of ‘yaad’ is worse. And let us tell you why. When you leave this country you are not only representing yourself and your family, you are representing Jamaica, and on a smaller scale, the entire Caribbean region. The first thing someone will identify you by when you do something that warrants national or international attention – especially something criminal – is where you are from. If you do well, it reflects positively on your country, when you do badly the negativity is reflected tenfold!

Did they stop to think about the consequences? The apparent answer would be ‘obviously not’. These five students who entered the United States on the summer work and travel programme may have inadvertently made the process more difficult for future students to get into the programme. Fees may see hikes, embassy interviews may become more difficult, work and travel agencies will be more selective about who they enlist so as to prevent any misrepresentation or sullying of their name. And oftentimes the ones in need get booted. 

When we misbehave outside of this lovely little island we call home, it affects everyone in Jamaica, whether indirectly through shame or directly as in the cases mentioned above, as well as in our travel options. Currently, Jamaicans are only allowed to visit about 27 countries without a visa, three of which require getting a visa upon entry and four of which are Caribbean countries. You might say, ‘Well, that’s not bad’ but you have to also keep in mind that there are 168 recognised countries in this world which require visas from Jamaicans for entry. Why don’t these countries want us there? Is it for our protection or theirs?

The crimes committed abroad by Jamaicans may well be few and far between. And good deeds get their time in the spotlight from time to time. But the selective few that are rotten inevitably get more press time. Some may say that it is a blessing that the news came at such a time that the good outshines the bad. But, as the saying goes, it only takes one bad apple (or five) to spoil the lot.