Sunday, April 14, 2024
To any outside observer looking upon the land and people of Belize, it must be a wonder indeed that there exists in this 21st century a place so blessed with all that Mother Nature could possibly give, and a people so beautiful to behold, with all the attributes of a nation, and all the natural physical, artistic and intellectual potential— that it has to be that this is the fabled “utopia”, a place where peace and happiness should reign, and nobody goes hungry or sad, and as the political slogan goes, “everybody fi win.” But we all know that such is not really the case; and while indeed there are many attributes of the dream present in the Jewel, still there is something going wrong, if only we could get a handle on it—why it is that there is a continuing high murder rate of productive young people, mostly males, and there is a persistent case of carnage on our roads and highways. What’s going on, Belize? Where are we going wrong?
Our political leaders have produced a shining report card of an economy turned around from the brink of disaster in 2020, and of the actions they took to achieve this: boosting agricultural production/export; taking over the port, purchasing it from the exploitative and heartless past owner; making thousands of citizens first-time land owners; raising the minimum wage to $5.00; expanding NHI to almost the whole country; implementing free education and feeding programs in many schools; and the impressive report card goes on. And this was recently acknowledged by the voting population of the country, who resoundingly cast their ballots in favor of the incumbent PUP in all but one of the municipalities. So, why are we killing ourselves on the highways; and why are we killing each other at an alarming murder rate in 2024?
One would normally be tempted to say, “It’s the economy”; but, clearly, from the official economic numbers (SIB annual report), Belize’s economy is on the upswing, despite setbacks in citrus and bananas. Thanks to the boom in tourism and BPOs, it’s been all accolades for the government for its visionary fiscal policies that have earned glowing reports from the IMF and other international lending agencies. The building of our own replacement for the Haulover Bridge, at a much-reduced cost from previous estimates, thanks to some sensible scaling down and fat cutting, is just another sterling achievement by the present government. So, what is our problem? Why the murders? Why the road traffic fatalities, recently prompting the Ministry of Transport to pass strict laws to enforce seat-belt use, prevent over-speeding, and stop the use of hand-held cell phones for communication while driving? Maybe it is more than the economy. Maybe, as a people we just need to check ourselves. Are we going off track, when it comes to self-discipline, morals and community/social concern?
There is no perfect society, and wherever people live in large communities or cities, there will be some level of crime, by individuals who go astray. The question is, how many, and how as a society we try to first prevent, and then deal with those who do go astray, to get them back on track as useful and productive members of society.
Youth is a critical period in a person’s life. “As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined.” We grow up so fast, and it is during those formative years that a lot of good habits are formed (and bad ones too), some with the help of stern discipline from elders, mostly parents, that stay with us for a lifetime. It is a sad tragedy indeed, when a young person lacks positive guidance and support and love in those critical formative years. For many, even in “the old days”, when a child is lacking parental guidance at home, the burden falls on the teacher, who shoulders tremendous responsibility in dealing with a large group of kids, some with serious issues at home. Class discipline can then become a challenge, requiring psychological skills on the part of the teacher without the once accepted use of corporal punishment on unruly kids. The jury may be out on that one, with the question of child abuse being a concern.
Perhaps the changing times did require a pullback from the corporal punishment tactic at school, and for good reason. With the teacher brain drain (to the USA and Canada, and the closure of Teachers Training College) of good, experienced teachers at the critical primary school level, a number of teachers may no longer have the required social/psychological skills to adequately address the issues posed by “problem” children in class, and would otherwise be inclined to lean heavily on “lashing”, with potential dire repercussions from “enlightened” parents, not necessarily well-educated themselves, going to school to “deal with” the teacher. So, that is the reality nowadays: the fact that our school system turns out some great successes, but also a number of dropouts and failures who never got to grasp some essential lessons of self-discipline and responsibility. Without effective control over young charges in class, a teacher may be inclined to ignore such students, and focus on the ones who show interest and respect for the teacher’s authority. Failures in society may begin in the class at primary school.
Where do we begin? How can a teacher maintain discipline in class, if there are no consequences? And if not corporal punishment, then the consequences must be such that it becomes a deterrent to the bad or negligent behavior, while not causing the child to drop out of school. There’s the rub. In this new technological age, dropping out is not an option. Primary school is a must; high school is a must. Then university or junior college or ITVET or some form of trade or occupation that provides an earning while also increasing one’s knowledge or skills along the way by “O.J.T.” (on the job training). But if you drop out of primary school or high school, you are in a very vulnerable position, especially as a young man – the hormones of young males are raging, and they will want money to buy things. And such is the devil’s workshop.
It’s a whole lot to ponder on for our authorities; and they have been trying all manner of techniques to deal with “crime and gangs”, including the L.I.U. (Leadership Intervention Unit) and engaging “at-risk” youths in sports competitions. Every little bit helps.
How about adding this to the mix? When reviewing the background details to many of the murders, and crime in general, three words beginning with “i” come to mind: idleness, ignorance and indifference. On any given work day in Belize City, if Mr./Ms. L.I.U. manager or social/community department leaders took a casual ride around Belize City, and kept a critical eye open, they would inevitably come upon a few old derelict buildings, seemingly uninhabitable, but each currently harboring a number of “idle” young men of working age, doing nothing, it seems. They are not in the process of reading anything or learning a skill or trade, which means that, day by day, they are wallowing in “ignorance”. And when you drive by these places, being “indifferent” to what is going on in the lives of these lost souls, you can rest assured that the devil is at work, and he will come up with something by and by. And who knows what it may be – it could be stirred by jealousy of another young man who got a good job, is making good money, and courting a girl who was once in the dreams of one of these lost souls.
We are all in this together. “Each man’s death diminishes me,” and as a society and community, we can’t continue to be “indifferent” to situations where we see potentially industrious young men wallowing in “idleness” and languishing in “ignorance”. Not everyone is inclined to sports. What about theatres, music clubs, game rooms, lecture halls …? Something must be done.