THE Prime Minister has put into the public domain an issue which strikes at the heart of delinquency and lawlessness perpetrated by some of our young people - poor parenting and, in some cases, a blatant lack of parenting.
Speaking at the official opening of the St Clair Police Station on Friday, Dr Rowley called on parents to show greater accountability in raising their children to prevent them falling into a life of crime.
"I want to ask parents who know that your progeny is at risk because you know what they're doing and many of you know that the outcome could be great harm, do not be guilty of having not done what you could have done," the Prime Minister advised.
We couldn't agree more.
It is a known fact that a child's education begins not in kindergarten or primary school - it begins in the home.
While we do not for one moment seek to absolve state institutions of blame in failing our young people - by way of poor school facilities, a curriculum too focused on book sense and very little or nothing at all being placed on life skills and conflict-resolution - we, like the Prime Minister, would also like to call out parents on their need to be more responsible in their parenting.
Children imitate what they see and hear, especially during the critical, formative years.
If parents curse, or beat each other, make racist remarks, listen to violent music and watch violent, lewd and inappropriate shows and movies in front of their children, what do you expect these children to do or say? How do you expect them to behave?
In promising that efforts will be made to tackle the root causes of crime by understanding why so many children appear to fall into more anti-social behaviours in their teenage years, Dr Rowley opined that a lack of proper parenting was a factor.
"I can come to a conclusion now, before I am advised, that a significant portion of the difficulty in this country is (through) poor parenting," he said.
For far too long, some people have sought to deflect their failures as parents - when their children end up before the courts or, worse, dead on the street - by passing the buck to the State or teachers or society, without first acknowledging that, all things being equal, had they been better parents, had they set better examples and had they paid better attention to their children, perhaps there could have been a different outcome.
We are acutely aware that much more can be done for our children from different levels, including at the level of the State. But what cannot be denied is the fact that when it comes to shaping the minds of children, the buck has to stop with the parent.
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