Tackle youth crime to pull youngsters back from the brink

Barbados is facing a crisis that runs far deeper than the headlines of robberies, shootings, and arrests of young men might suggest. Behind escalating youth crime is what could only be described as a moral and emotional fracture that needs to be healed with urgency.

The numbers recently presented by Reverend Anderson Kellman at Sunday’s Faith-Family-Freedom Rally do not inspire a great deal of hope.

Between January and October this year, 391 teenagers aged 15 to 19 and 999 young adults between 20 and 22 were charged with various crimes. This in the midst of statistics showing robberies more than doubled, from 100 in 2024 to 213 this year, despite there being an overall dip in reported crimes.

The statistics are really the faces and futures of too many of our sons, daughters, and neighbours. The growing level of violence and lawlessness among young people is not a storm that occurred overnight. It is the result of years of wearing away of the family structure, moral teaching, and community.

Pastor Roger Husbands, director of Drug Education and Counselling Services, reminded Barbadians at the rally that anger was one of the causes driving violence across the island. Unaddressed anger festers into other negatives such as aggression, revenge, and despair.

When young people have no safe outlet for their frustration or mentors to guide them, and no sense of purpose, they will sometimes turn to the streets for those comforts.

“Don’t let your first action be the final response,” Husbands said. His call for self-control and forgiveness is necessary. It is critical that within the home, school and community, our children must be taught to manage anger, resolve conflict, and communicate without violence. These skills are as important as learning to read and write.

Reverend Kellman’s remarks were also instructive, as he pointed to a deeper moral crisis facing the country.

He spoke of a “generation of individuals who had no spiritual grounding”, where life has become transactional and “the sanctity of human life hung in the balance”.

In many ways, the church’s call to return to moral teaching is timely. But this cannot be the responsibility of the church alone. Government, our teachers, and members of civil society must work together to build a stronger support system for families in order to help steer our young people away from crime. Too many of our “solutions” are unfortunately coming after the damage is done.

At the same time, attorney Philippa Davies reminded those attending the rally that even as we pursue responses to the youth crime problem, we must ensure that they do not come at the cost of freedom.

Her comments on free speech and democracy were a timely warning that in addressing breakdowns in society we should not try to silence legitimate voices.

To solve the crisis of youth crime, we must commit to confronting several uncomfortable truths. Many of our young people who have come into conflict with the law come from homes where poverty, abuse, or neglect are common. Others are victims of the glorification of quick, easy money at any cost – the get rich or die trying mentality.

Addressing youth crime, therefore, is not simply a matter of more police on the streets or harsher penalties from the courts, but it is more about giving young people a reason to hope and a feeling of belonging in a society that is becoming more self-centred.

If the reports that nearly 1 400 young Barbadians are currently going through the justice system within a single year, then we are not dealing with a simple crime wave but a generation in need of immediate attention.

The way forward requires a blend of compassion and accountability. The religious leaders at the Faith-Family-Freedom Rally must continue to reach the hearts of young people.

Our schools must try more to equip them with emotional skills, the government must invest in youth development, and families must reclaim their role as the first line of defence if we are to pull this generation of young people back from the precipice.