Philipsburg: ---The discussion on the current crime rate on St. Maarten served as an eye opener to those that attended and viewed the live discussion on Sunday afternoon. The five panelists comprising of St. Maarten's youths were invited to by the executive council to share their views on the rising crime rate on St. Maarten. They spoke out against the lack of the community's involvement in shaping their environment.Surprising is that even though the discussion was organized by the island government of St. Maarten, persons working in the department of education, social affairs, and policy making were nowhere to be seen. One would believe that if government is looking for possible solutions to curb the escalating crime rate then these persons working for government would have been there to gather first hand information. The question one would ask is if the information provided by these youths who took time out of their busy schedules to engage in the discussion would go on deaf ears.
The panel was specifically asked to elaborate on rehabilitation of youths who have chosen the wrong path, education and saving today's youths. The panelists as well as the experts believe that the community needs to play a bigger role in their surroundings. They also referred to the old saying that says it takes a village to raise child.
The five member panel and three experts within the community elaborated on how important it is for parents to take on an active role in the upbringing of their children. Parents were criticized for not spending enough time with their children, for allowing the television to be the parents of their children simply because they do not want to be bothered. Teachers and schools were criticized for the fact they focus on academia rather than skills and tradesmen. Suspending students who are not behaving well in school they said only promoted delinquency at the expense of the community. Teachers they said need to work on their relationship and bond with their students. Discipline they said need to be brought back in the schools. Students they say have no fear for their parents and teachers simply because the current mechanism in place is not working.
The entire panel agreed that there is too much focus on academic education based on the current system and availability and the lack of a proper trade school on St. Maarten and more importantly the lack of juvenile detention center. The panel believes that while the youths on St. Maarten are labeled as delinquent, there is simply not enough opportunities provided to them. They also believe that youths have to take the initiative if they are to shape their lives in a positive direction.
The panel also agreed that the business community should play a more active role in giving youths a fair chance to work. These businesses they said need to participate more so that schools and government could work on providing the right kind of employees that are needed in the job market.
The police force took shots for being unfriendly, and not being able to respond to the full needs of the growing community simply because they are short staffed.
Leader of government William Marlin whose office organized the event said that things have changed today as from when he was a teacher, he said society has allowed the rights of the child has taken away the island's values. While Marlin made clear that he was not advocating abuse he said that there needs to be some level of discipline in schools. Agreeing with the commissioner of education was someone in the audience who said today the police are making it their duties to arrest parents when they try to correct their children.