Youths in particular are being damaged by the corrupt examples of those in power

Dear Editor,

One of the troubling features in our country today is the frequency of domestic violence, leading to the death of many women in our society at the hands of their spouses.

Shocking as this is, it does not tell the whole story. What is clear is that Domestic Violence is widespread and affecting many families. It appears also that this scourge is more prevalent among working class families throughout the country.

Another factor that has caused much alarm and has connection with domestic violence is the growing violence in our schools. Children are arming themselves with offensive weapons and often use them during fights. These result in serious injuries. It is also worrying for it suggests that gangs exist in many schools.

We even have the sad situation where some teachers are intimidated by a few of their students. This leads to breakdown of discipline in the schools and mirrors problems at home and in the wider society.

Some reports suggest that some teachers are at times guilty of aggression to children and their parents.

All of these tell a worrying tale of very great problems in our society.

This is an area that institutions such as the University of Guyana should be investigating. After all it produces a lot of graduates in the field of sociology, yet hardly anything is published to deal with this problem which is damaging to the country as a whole.

It is true that these problems could be rooted in a wide range of matters that people have to face daily. These are both general and specific.

In this article an attempt is made to identify some of the more general matters that contribute to these serious situations.

In the first place we should examine the conditions in the country. This is necessary because problems in this sphere have the widest of impact on the life of a country.

Over the last five years or so our country’s economy has not been producing jobs. Indeed, when we look at the figures a conservative estimate is that some thirty thousand persons lost their jobs. This was a most cruel blow to low income workers who have been greatly affected.

An unemployed person is not only worse off financially, he/she is psychologically damaged as well.

In our society it is not easy to find employment, therefore, when a worker loses his employment it has a devastating impact on the whole family.

These massive job losses, as happened in the sugar industry, in mining and forestry, lead to great frustrations, depression and other undesirable consequences in the home.

This is often manifested in domestic violence where our women and children are often brutalized with all the negative factors involved. We hear about it when murder results or really horrendous injuries occur.

Children growing up in this environment are often seriously physically and physiologically scarred, often for life.

Those scars are often seen in violence at schools and in relation to other children. These poor young, impressionable kids become very vulnerable to greater negative influences. Many, mainly boys, find themselves in gangs and often that takes them on a criminal path.

Some others who don’t take that road often go in the direction of alcoholism and drugs. These rob our country of significant human resources as many take an irreversible turn in life.

A very powerful, general driving force for this crisis we are confronted with is related to governance in the country.

National leadership is very important to the general mental health of a country.

If we have an open society in which racial and political discrimination are absent then we will have a very healthy society. If justice is delivered blindly, timely and according to our laws then our children will grow up with respect for the laws, with compassion and free themselves from the prejudices of their parents and fore parents. They will free themselves from the racism often spewed by Political Commentators in our media all in support of the PNC/APNU+AFC.

However, when those in authority use their power unjustly, corruptly and in a discriminating manner it has untold negative impacts at all levels of our society. When the regime itself acts illegally it gives justification to criminals for their illegal actions.

Our constitution has been seriously violated over and over during the last five years. This government disregarded a vote of no-confidence and prolonged its life for a whole year. Nine months of which they have been in government illegally.

The behaviour of the regime is terribly immoral. They are involving themselves in multi-billion dollars deals even though our National Assembly and our final court have pronounced on their status. The most recent is the allocation of hundreds of thousands of acres of land to cronies just days before elections.

All of these abnormal and immoral dealings have a grave impact on the moral health of this country. The youths in particular are being damaged by the corrupt examples of those in power.

These are important contributing factors to the rise in domestic violence, school violence and the increased violence in the society as a whole.

Leadership by example is very, very vital in moving towards a solution to this scourge in Guyana!

Yours faithfully, Donald Ramotar