VEL A LEWIS

IN 1994, the late Justice Lennox Deyalsingh described the crime condition in TT as reaching epidemic proportions (Trinidad Guardian, June 20). Back then there were regular reports of such violent crimes as murder and armed robbery. Even since then, there were concerns that many of the criminals involved in those matters were young people and most of them showed little or no signs of remorse.

At that time, some of us who worked with young people in the field of culture and the arts took an interest in examining the phenomenon of youth and violence in the country and in the Caribbean generally. The key factors which were identified as possibly impacting on youth and violence included the economic situation, unemployment, education and parenting (upbringing of children). These factors continue to present challenges in our society in respect of youth violence.

In our march towards development, TT and many other Caribbean countries have had to adopt financial systems and measures that were designed and very much controlled outside of the region. Some experts have argued that even as these non-indigenous economic measures have been touted far and wide as being successful, their implementation in the region has not been without negative results, especially on the youth.

Research has also suggested that the nature of the small economies in many Caribbean countries is a source of risk for youth. Some of the negative results and risks that have been identified include cultural alienation, social and economic marginalisation, and high rates of unemployment.

Admittedly, the problem of unemployment can be a frustrating experience for adults, but it is an even more devastating experience for young people entering the job market. Some experts have determined that youth unemployment has the potential to have significant and serious social repercussions, can tinge young people's relationship to their community and negatively direct the course of their young impressionable lives.

It must be recognised, though, that for a long time the education system which we inherited and cultivated, subordinated vocational and technical skills to academic curricula. The perception that was held, therefore, was one that gave white collar jobs a higher social and economic status than blue collar jobs.

This perception was reinforced, for example, in policies and programmes that emphasised industrialisation and modernisation to the detriment of agriculture. Some have argued that this notion resulted in limiting the desire of young people to pursue opportunities for training and employment in technical/vocational areas.

In TT, as in many Caribbean countries, at the foundation of the education of children and young people was the inculcating of spiritual, moral and ethical values, particularly by parents and guardians but also by others who interacted with children. Many have argued that over the years there has been a falling away of this practice in the upbringing of our youth.

It is agreed that morality is su