Eustace: Adults should take some of the blame

President of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Arnhim Eustace believes that while young people contribute to the rise in crime and violence, a finger must also be pointed at the older generation for contributing to it.{{more}}

Speaking at a candlelight march, vigil and rally held at Heritage Square on September 2 in remembrance of Kellishaw Ollivierre and others who died as a result of crime and violence, Eustace said young people are generally the ones most accused of committing crimes in our community.

While that is so, the Opposition Leader said he does not attribute all the blame to the young people. “I believe that everyone of us, those who have long gone past our youth, we have contributed significantly to the crime that is taking place in this country.”

Ollivierre, 24, was one of six young women who perished as a result of the firebombing of the Campus Trends store on Tudor Street, Barbados, on September 3, 2010.

Eustace lauded the efforts of Ollivierre’s mother Coleen for organizing such a function, not only in remembrance of her daughter, but also to spread a message of peace.

Addressing the small gathering, Eustace said many of us who were brought up in a stricter regime and with different kinds of parents have allowed those values to slip.

“We don’t impart these values to the younger people in our society. The other influences such as TV and other forms of media are not good for the children, but how many of us as parents try to control access to the use of some of this media in respect of our children…,” Eustace indicated.

According to Eustace, when children repeat what they see and we don’t correct it, they will form their own opinions.

“We have a responsibility ourselves, and to my mind we are as guilty as the young people out there,” Eustace said.

The Opposition Leader said in the last three years alone, he has attended the funerals of more young people than any other sector in society.

“I want everyone not just to cast blame at young people, but examine ourselves individually, collectively, to see how we have contributed and what we have to do to change it… Change cannot come about by any government; the change will have to come when the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines take full responsibility for imparting the message of goodness in Christ, in young people,” Eustace commented. (KW)