Dear Editor,

The age of criminals here on the island is a great cause for concern and the issue is not getting the attention it needs.

Children are considered anyone below the age of majority, 18 years. It is important to note the age as this means that children are not in charge of themselves. It is the responsibility of parents to be integral in the life of their children and this on the face of it is woefully lacking. Children have been charged for almost all the offences for which their adult counterparts are charged. It is not naive of us as a nation to believe that some parents aid and abet their children in acts of criminality.

It is widely known that it is the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA) that is used to deal with children who run afoul of the law. This is translated to mean that they will only be given a slap on the wrist. The lawmakers are now proposing, as a deterrent, a mandatory minimum of 20 years for children convicted of murder. The thought in theory sounds good, but if we were to take the new Road Traffic Act (RTA) as an example of deterrence, then “it nuh look suh promising”. The State continues to miss the mark to nip child criminality in the bud and there are clear telltale signs of possible future actions.

A child who has had a trail of behavioural challenges from his or her younger years often becomes the enemy of the State. The State, with all its resources, should address the issue of poor parenting, especially for the poorer class in our society.

We often shy away from accepting that criminality is more pronounced in the presence of poverty, which is a feeder to criminality. We can’t just scare crime away, we have to take action. The juvenile delinquents and social control theories should be implemented to deal with the crime situation. Our learned leaders should know that it is not good intentions that produce solutions, but thoughtful actions.

We continue to expend billions of dollars yearly to address the impact of crime. How about we seek to address its causes. Crime Stop’s slogan is “Solving crime pays”, but the prevention of crime is what we should seek.

It has become a cliche to suggest that focus be placed on parenting, and it’s a cliche to suggest that the Government grow the economy as a crime-fighting measure.

Please note that the attention we fail to give the youth of today will be our greatest problem tomorrow.

Hezekan Bolton

h_e_z_e@hotmail.com