Irrational fear making us crazy
May 3, 2019
Give Aeroponics a try
May 3, 2019

What was far away, now seems close…

Please forgive me for returning to one of the biggest problems in Trinidad and Tobago…PROPER PARENTING. Imagine a 14-year-old student was killed during what reports describe as an attempted robbery gone sour. First reports state that the youth was being schooled in criminal acts by an adult who may or may not have been a relative.

Given all of the above, I have one question: Where is the teenager’s mother? Where is his father? In fact, where are his parents or guardian? At the time of writing we had not heard from anyone.

The act took place sometime around 8.30 a.m. when all children attending school are supposed to be at school. Can anybody tell me why he was not in class at St Anthony’s? Was the school closed? I don’t think so.

Additionally, was he a struggling student at college? Did his teachers notice anything different about him or his schoolwork? Was he a model student? Did he show signs of instability and if so, were his parents contacted about any unbecoming behaviour? Was the school management too slow to act for the welfare of that student? Are there similar situations? These are questions which need to be answered.

We can then ask whether religion is doing enough to help in the predicament in which we find ourselves. You may want to place blame at the doorsteps of the many children’s organisations, which blanket this society, but this is useless if parents and guardians are failing in their parental duties and are not held responsible for the actions of their children.

Onto something else. We are all aware by now that we have within a week two incidents of murder/suicide where three members of families were discovered dead in their own vehicles, the first at Cumana near Toco, the other on the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Golconda.

These killings reflect that something is drastically wrong with our society and a thorough examination is needed by Church, State and, most importantly, the people themselves.

The population cannot sit idly by, shake their heads in disgust and bury themselves in the tenuous security of their homes. Burglar proofing, barbed-wire fences, security cameras and the like, seem to be no deterrent these days, given the increase in the number of home invasions.

There needs to be a proper analysis of the problem. All the country’s psychiatrists, psychologists and professionals of similar vein, together with Gary Griffith’s embattled Police Service need to get together and examine the problem holistically; seek out palatable solutions; and then act on them. We may need some foreign help going forward.

But as things stand today, I shudder to even think of where my beloved country is heading. Although the term anarchy is a word which seemed far, far away a few years ago, it now seems very close if the criminality gets the upper hand.

We must remember these taunting words: ‘God helps those who help themselves’.

God bless us all.

These killings reflect that something is drastically wrong with our society and a thorough examination is needed by Church, State and, most importantly, the people themselves.