Youth activists challenge new GIS directors

A newly installed board at the Government Industrial School (GIS) has failed to gain the full support from a growing band of youth activists who are demanding clear criteria for the selections made and questioning the exclusion of people they say are younger and more qualified, Barbados TODAY can reveal.

The activists are also questioning the fitness of at least two appointees whose ability to oversee the school’s affairs has been challenged in light of recent “deeply concerning” public statements.

The alliance, which includes the Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC), U-Report Barbados, the National Youth Policy Coordination Committee, and Barbados’ Caricom Youth Ambassadors, has put forward the name of at least one prospective board member who, in its opinion, is suitably qualified.

The sentiments were expressed during a virtual protest that encouraged activists to flood the social media accounts and emails of Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams and other key government officials demanding more urgent action in response to the alleged treatment of juvenile offenders.

Barbados TODAY understands more than 100 local, regional and international organisations participated by posting solidarity messages across various social media platforms.

The protest occurred two days after a press conference held by Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams in response to reports that a 14-year-old ward was held in solitary confinement at the girl’s unit of the GIS. Public outcry then turned to scandal when the Deputy Chair and President of the National Organisation of Women (NOW) Marsha Hinds-Layne spoke out about numerous inhumane practices in desperate need of reform.

During Saturday’s press briefing, Abrahams announced an overhaul of the board. Reverend Lucille Baird chairs the new board which includes Dr Carl Ward, Cheryl Moore, Stephanie Chase, and Kwame Bradshaw. He also declared that solitary confinement would no longer be used as a form of punishment.

But some of the new board members have come under scrutiny for recent comments including Chase, who, in a recent social media post called for the alleged whistleblower to be “fired” and “charged”. Many have also questioned Reverend Baird’s fitness in light of her recent stances on issues relating to ‘block culture’, marijuana, cultural expression and same-sex discrimination which many believe are not “progressive”.

In an interview on Monday, CARICOM Youth Ambassador Meghan Theobalds revealed that activists were heartened by many of the changes announced on Saturday that align with a list of 10 recommendations compiled by the youth groups for institutional reforms. But she confirmed the existence of lingering concerns about the composition of the new board.

She told Barbados TODAY: “There is a measure of concern in terms of who is there and who is missing, especially the youth voice. We would definitely like to see more youth representation, especially considering this board will deal directly with the youth. We would like a commitment to [have] more youth voices on these boards.

“With regard to those newly appointed, there is a little bit of concern regarding public sentiments or statements made by some board members. Therefore that has caused us to re-evaluate and quite honestly question what is the criteria for such a selection could be and whether that could be made transparent.

“We want a more reflective board that represents young people and that represents the empathy that we believe is essential to dealing with this very sensitive situation because these young girls and boys who are coming into this institution are coming from backgrounds that are very challenging, and therefore we want to make sure that they are embraced into an environment that is welcoming, that will listen to them and that will hear them and will therefore do what is best for them.”

Furthermore, the alliance is suggesting that Christa Soleyn, a respected clinical psychologist with experience dealing with marginalised youth, be considered as a member of the board.

The young activists are also questioning the minister’s vote of confidence in GIS staff, who, on numerous instances have been accused of perpetuating the violations to which they are opposed. As a result, they have not let up on calls for increased surveillance of the activities at GIS to ensure staff accountability.

Theobalds said: “What measures have you put in place to ensure that tonight when [GIS inmates] go into bed we know that they are safe and sound, free from harm and can sleep soundly for the next day. Those are things that we are articulating in the protest just to make sure that we understand that there are measures that will need to be put in place, but we just want to make sure that we as the youth representatives have articulated fully what those measures could possibly be.

“We intend to flood the social media and email inboxes because, as you know, when there is a normal protest, there are voices in one location causing a ruckus because a protest is not something that is polite. It is intended to disrupt. So we do intend to disrupt the everyday flow of work and virtually, that looks like constant mentions, constant emails, constant tagging, because we believe that that is one of the most effective ways that we can draw attention to this very serious cause and let it be known that we still have questions.”

(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)