Jul 12, 2018 Letters

---

DEAR EDITOR,
I love disciplinary organisations. I have a passion for them because they instill proper behaviour in young men and women and give them more control of their will-power so they have greater ability to become self-sufficient.
I benefitted from being a member of the Guyana National Service. My stint was short, but I am a better and stronger person because of it. My eye-opening exposure to a disciplined organisation when I was a young man taught me many valuable life skills.
Of course, some who pass through disciplinary organisations fall by the wayside because of human failings, but I believe the majority learn controlled and orderly behaviour, self reliance and general strength of character.
Most importantly, disciplined organisations also teach young men and women vocational skills. If they choose to, they can make use of these skills to make an honest living as they go through life.
That is why, when I saw a video of a young gunman committing a robbery last week, I felt the need to call once again on the leaders of Guyana to establish an institution such as a boot camp for young offenders.
Many crimes are committed by young males. Some of the crimes are not very serious, but these boys and young men are sentenced to serve time in what I call the University of Crime, which is our prison system, where these vulnerable youths have no choice but to rub shoulders with ruthless hard-core, career criminals. These older criminals teach the young ones new tips and tricks of the criminal life so they are even worse criminals when they are unleashed on society again.
In prison, youths are forced to learn strategies to survive in an oppressive, hostile, violent environment. This makes them become selfish, brutal, cynical, cunning and callous; the longer the sentence, the worse they become.
As a society, we need to find revolutionary ways to save our youths before they get damaged and damned in our University of Crime. We have to think outside the box and find ways to intervene in young lives and put them on the right track.
We have to give all young persons, even those like the youthful gunman in the video, an opportunity to redeem themselves. Our justice system cannot be focused on punishment alone; young offenders must get a fair chance to be rehabilitated and reintegrated in society.
This is why I suggest setting up a boot camp for young offenders. When criminals like the young gunman in the video are caught, we need to have a detention centre where they are separated from hardened criminals and they can learn discipline and skills to earn a living.
A National Service-type organisation would be an ideal detention centre for young criminals. National Service was a commendable initiative by the late President Forbes Burnham and what I liked about it was the strong paramilitary structure that incorporated hands-on agricultural work.
If Guyana sets up such a boot camp for young offenders, the inmates can be made to plant crops and rear poultry and livestock for their own sustenance and, by the sweat of their brows, engage in various self-help projects to meet other needs they may have while in confinement.
I recommend that those who are illiterate or under-educated can be taught basic literacy and numeracy skills and be helped to improve their general knowledge. There must also be an element of life-guidance, anger management and counselling.
I believe counselling will make a boot camp successful as a means of rehabilitating young offenders, because they often need professional help to deal with their psychological problems from all the many difficulties they faced in their young lives.
In the highly disciplined environment of a boot camp for young offenders, the coordinators can inculcate a sense of patriotism in the youths. If it is properly organised and run, it can help youths develop self esteem, and motivate them to become better, productive members of society.
At the very least, it will protect them from the perverted teaching they would be exposed to in the University of Crime. By being detained in a boot camp environment, they will have a much better chance of turning their lives around.
Many young men and women, boys and girls who become involved in crimes grew up in broken homes where they were starved of food, affection, moral guidance and education.
In many cases, those who get caught up in lives of crime today came from households where parents, relatives, or other people they spent a lot of time around, were involved in petty or major criminal activities, and these youths were under bad influence from the time they were babies.
Bad parenting in families with both parents can also be a serious cause of crime among youths, although there are those who grew up with good hardworking parents, but nevertheless turned to a life of blue collar or white collar crime because they wanted easy money.
Let me say, though, that some single parents have done amazing jobs in raising children who are shining examples in our society today.
As a society, we have to take full responsibility for guiding our young people away from lives of crime and punishment to situations in which they have the best chances of becoming decent people living good lives.
Maybe if the gunman who robbed the supermarket had been exposed to a boot camp and had received proper counseling for whatever issues drove him to a criminal life, he would not have done what he did that day.
I am therefore appealing to Governmental and non-governmental organisations, diplomatic institutions and others to assist in establishing boot camps and institutions that can positively help our youths on the wrong track.
A life is a terrible thing to waste, especially that of a youth with intelligence, potential and energy. We should do everything we can to ensure they become positive serving members of society.
Sincerely,
Roshan Khan Snr.

---

---