Youth activist cautions gang members in schools

Prominent youth activist Roger Husbands says some of the members of violent gangs are among the island’s school population.

He has therefore called on law enforcement officials and the Ministry of Education to ensure the bloodshed recently seen on the streets does not make its way into educational institutions when the new term begins in another two weeks.

“One of my fears now is that school is about to start back and you have young gangsters and you have young guys who are actually running gangs who will be going back into the school system, and I want to encourage the Minister of Education from now to start to put plans in place for what might possibly happen,” the director of the Drug Education and Counselling Services (DECS) told Barbados TODAY.

“We [have] got to ask ourselves who [is] doing the shooting, and the majority of [them] are young people who are under the age of 25 who are out there committing acts of murder. I believe that in the new school season that is coming that we are going to need more intervention, especially for our young men,” he added as he reacted to the announcement by police that the recent gun-related activity in the country has been occurring among members of known gangs.

Husbands recalled that last year he warned that more children were joining gangs and that he had called on the relevant authorities to hold parents accountable for their actions.

The self-proclaimed gang interventionist also pointed out that “one of the gangs in one of the parishes in Barbados have people as young as nine years old”.

In January 2020, a 14-year-old boy was one of two males charged with the early morning shooting death of Marlon Holder while he was dropping his son off at St Alban’s Primary School.

“So, this is why my fear now is the school system and I am praying about it. Yes, these young gangsters will initiate, yes they are going to get more people in their groups, and my fear right now is the school system. I am encouraging the education system to start to put things in place.

“One of the greatest things is information and it will be important for the Ministry of Education to get groups to go into the schools to start to speak on these matters to children, showing them the dangers and the possible problems that might come if you do join a gang. They need to get that information to the young people and start to look at plotting and mapping the schools to see where the gangs are and who are involved with gangs in the schools and get those persons assistance,” he urged.

Husbands stressed that in light of what was taking place in the wider community, parents should pay attention to their children’s whereabouts and activities.

“So it would be good for parents at this time to look at what they can do now to help their children not to get involved in gangs and go through this process. Because at the end of the day, men are literally running to police stations for protection. They get involved not realising how serious this thing is and running away from people who will eventually catch them to kill them,” he warned.

With Barbados recording five shooting deaths last week – four of them occurring within a 48-hour period – Husbands said Barbadians have reason to be concerned and should do what is necessary to assist law enforcement officials in getting the situation under control.

“Most of these youngsters that are either dying or are in gangs or shooting and being violent have homes, they have families, they started somewhere. So, I think that the concern should be for parents to ensure that they instil the right values and discipline their children before it is too late. In terms of the violence, I am hoping that we should have some kind of break soon,” he said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb