Delinquent parents are products of neglect

THE EDITOR: Please be good enough to publish the following opinion on the delinquency in our society, at a time when truth and moral values are on the decline. At the same time, I want to publicly praise Senator Professor Ramesh Deosaran of UWI, St Augustine, for rejecting the “go-with-the-flow” mentality pervading the society and standing solidly on the side of truth when he declared, at a Parent-Teacher Convention, that this country has become “a nation of hypocrites”.

During an interview with the press, Dr Linda Baboolal, President of the Senate, had this to say: “A lot of children don’t have parents to talk to them the way they should be talked to.” That statement, to me, was a mouthful of truth that must be examined to see if that “truth” fits the agenda of politicians when they are in Government, which can be done by looking at other areas of “truth”. For example, some parents who belong to our shrinking middle class, find it easy to talk to their children “the way they should be talked to” because they are better secured economically and can afford hired help. They have literate friends and access to the internet, books on parenting and the art of communication. The environment in which they live is just right for prudent family life and upbringing of children. They may live in so-called respected areas and have the right complexion that can open doors for them if help is needed.

There is also that vast majority of parents, who are living below the poverty line, who share the burden of having to listen to politicians who do public relations and make politically correct statements about poverty and social development, without any meaningful and sustainable programmes in place to help the thousands of poor and less fortunate parents who cannot handle their own lives. Yet, we expect them to meet the demands of some critics who hold all parents responsible for the delinquent behaviour of their children. How much can society reasonably expect from scrunting but honest parents who are daily on the hustle from early in the morning to late at night trying to put bread on the table for hungry mouths — without an effective support programme through which they can learn about self-esteem and how to build and maintain a stable family life.

A regrettable truth is that over the years, parental delinquency, violence in schools and domestic violence have been on the rise, while successive administrations have been politicising social services and education (as everything else) instead of assisting poor people to help themselves to understand all about relationships, commitment and family values. Poverty is just part of the complex problem of delinquency. It is an established fact that an individual’s character is determined by his external circumstances, which supports another fact that the delinquent syndrome is the result of “ignorant homes” and lack of natural understanding, which leads to another truth: that the majority of delinquent parents are the product of Government neglect and the inequality of our education system. With the present escalating social problems existing in many depressed communities, there was never more need than today for a committee, appointed by the President of the Republic, to look into relations between elected Governments and the poor and underprivileged people in society. Its report may help civil society take its head out of the sand.

Any “people’s Government” who understood the depth of the problem would have introduced a permanent programme — shared by the Ministries of Social Development and Education — throughout the country aimed at building strong family units through the work of specially trained social workers in the field, who will be interacting face to face with members of various households in underprivileged areas whose lives can be changed through sustained counselling. Such a programme — free from political party influence and patronage — will also provide permanent and productive employment for qualified communicators. To quote Brian Simons — author of the book, Intelligence, Psychology and Education — “Education is the heart of the social order.” Many of our young parents today are part of our lost generation and with such an “education-based” programme, there could not be a better foundation upon which to readjust the lives of many families and begin building a new generation of Trinbagonians in which every creed, race and “class” would experience, as a united family, the fulfillment of “arrival” and “emancipation”.

WYCLIFFE MORRIS
Former Director of Education
NUGFW