CEO of the Nolan Hue Foundation, Regis Burton said the private sector should care more about the continual acts of violence committed by young people in schools as well as part of young gangs.
“I think now more than any other time in our history we are seeing a big outcry from adults on the behaviour of young people—their character, their attitudes, their habits.
“And in the world of technology they can voice those concerns more—the radio, the newspaper, Facebook and other social platforms—but what we are not seeing are the necessary solutions, suggestions or projects,” Burton said.
He said that fights will always be there among young people, but it was necessary to look deeper to understand the issues at play.
“When you find out the origin of some of these fights, you will see, with a little bit of conflict resolution, guidance, mentorship … some of these petty fights would not lead to loss of life.
“So, the whole fact that, currently in our society, we are just seeing the younger generation being brought under the microscope for their behaviours and their attitudes and nothing is being done to help direct them to a better alternative lifestyle or a better way of life,” he explained.
Nolan Hue is an NGO geared towards professional development of young people across the Caribbean.
“Why is it important for corporate citizens to even care? At the end of the day, these people become your customers and also your employees.
“A more educated, empowered, enlightened society means you have a better pool of people to hire from to help make your company’s goals more achievable and develop your individual imagination and then you have smarter customers,” he said.
He believed that as a society, there has been a diminishing respect for authority.
“As a society we have lost respect for people in authority, from the principal to the teacher, to the aunty and uncle.
“We used to be a society where we referred to people as ‘aunty’ — even though the person was a stranger — out of respect and now, we see police officers and don’t even care to hide the alcohol or put away the smoking and we have gotten so blatant with it because sometimes we enjoy being in paradise too much and everything is too free.
“Don’t get me wrong; sometimes there is a reason why we lose respect for those police officers and people in authority because it all starts with self-respect and, sometimes, the public sees people in authority not respecting themselves or their positions, and do not uphold it to the standards it should be,” he added.
Burton further posited that parents need to take the opportunity and time to spend quality time with their children.
“I know a lot of people will say it is single parents, but I am not one to believe that; it’s about the quality of time that parents spend with their child, not even the quantity but the quality.
“When I’m spending time with my child, how are they learning and growing and what am I doing while I am with them that sets a good example for them?
“The quality of time children spend with adults — because not everyone will have parents and that’s where the role of mentors and leaders come into society to be examples.
“We have lost our way with taking a community to raise a child and we have to get back to that even from an economic point of view,” he said.
Burton also noted that society needs to take a closer look at the behaviours of adults.
“Children should be raised by adults, and if they are raising themselves, then that is a problem on its own [because] they are mirroring the adults’ behaviour. So what have we, as a society, been focussing on in the last 15-20 years?” he added.
