bahamianpride
05-11-07, - 01:25 PM
Youth in peril
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/319778609179678.php
That girls in the Willie Mae Pratt facility on Fox Hill Road would go to the length they did of destroying public property, as was done on Sunday night, is intolerable and should not be condoned by the authorities in any way.
Seven girls attempted to escape from the correctional institution and in the process of breaking the locks, caused considerable damage to the walls and the gate. Fortunately they were recaptured before they could cause more serious damage to the property and before harm could be visited upon anyone.
The last major breakout from the institution, which occurred in 2005, resulted in the death of two teenage girls in a fire, and the escape of two others. They were eventually found and returned to the Center after being on the run for more than two weeks.
It is unfortunate that these children - under 15 years old - are caught up in this dilemma, where they have to be taken from their homes and placed in an environment where, although it is intended, there is the possibility that they will not be rehabilitated.
In the first place the girls are incarcerated at the Center because they are delinquent and out of control at their various homes, where the parents have come to a literal breaking point and cannot tell them what to do. They are also too young to be sentenced to serve time in prison with hard-core older inmates. And so they are sent to the girls' center in the hope that in two or three years, they would have been rehabilitated and could again fit into society.
However, if the reports coming from the workers are true, there is much to be desired at the Center. The workers are being critical of the administration for allowing the girls to flagrantly flout the rules without recourse to disciplinary action. They are afraid of the girls and claim to have been verbally and physically abused. It has now come to the point where they are afraid to go to work.
"It is just ridiculous here," said one worker on Monday. "What they are putting the staff through, it seems as if they are not concerned about the staff, they are concerned about the residents ... they are in control of the center."
Stating that the administration needs to take corrective action, one Center staff member stated: "We are begging and pleading ... we are near tears ... we can't sleep at night for fear of co-workers getting hurt."
This is a sad indictment to admit that "the children" are in control and we, the adults, the parents, are afraid of them. But perhaps this is exactly the reason there are so many children running loose in the country, having their own way, not being concerned with whether the authorities agree or disagree.
This clearly points to the parents' failure to train up their children in the way that they should go. It is also a clear indication that the "rod of correction" was never applied and the children have taken over the households of their frightened parents.
The Willie Mae Pratt Center for Girls and indeed the Simpson Penn Center for Boys should be high on the priority list of the new government's commitment to trust, and should be a core point of the youth development program. If the children are allowed to rule, the country will certainly be in trouble.
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/319778609179678.php
That girls in the Willie Mae Pratt facility on Fox Hill Road would go to the length they did of destroying public property, as was done on Sunday night, is intolerable and should not be condoned by the authorities in any way.
Seven girls attempted to escape from the correctional institution and in the process of breaking the locks, caused considerable damage to the walls and the gate. Fortunately they were recaptured before they could cause more serious damage to the property and before harm could be visited upon anyone.
The last major breakout from the institution, which occurred in 2005, resulted in the death of two teenage girls in a fire, and the escape of two others. They were eventually found and returned to the Center after being on the run for more than two weeks.
It is unfortunate that these children - under 15 years old - are caught up in this dilemma, where they have to be taken from their homes and placed in an environment where, although it is intended, there is the possibility that they will not be rehabilitated.
In the first place the girls are incarcerated at the Center because they are delinquent and out of control at their various homes, where the parents have come to a literal breaking point and cannot tell them what to do. They are also too young to be sentenced to serve time in prison with hard-core older inmates. And so they are sent to the girls' center in the hope that in two or three years, they would have been rehabilitated and could again fit into society.
However, if the reports coming from the workers are true, there is much to be desired at the Center. The workers are being critical of the administration for allowing the girls to flagrantly flout the rules without recourse to disciplinary action. They are afraid of the girls and claim to have been verbally and physically abused. It has now come to the point where they are afraid to go to work.
"It is just ridiculous here," said one worker on Monday. "What they are putting the staff through, it seems as if they are not concerned about the staff, they are concerned about the residents ... they are in control of the center."
Stating that the administration needs to take corrective action, one Center staff member stated: "We are begging and pleading ... we are near tears ... we can't sleep at night for fear of co-workers getting hurt."
This is a sad indictment to admit that "the children" are in control and we, the adults, the parents, are afraid of them. But perhaps this is exactly the reason there are so many children running loose in the country, having their own way, not being concerned with whether the authorities agree or disagree.
This clearly points to the parents' failure to train up their children in the way that they should go. It is also a clear indication that the "rod of correction" was never applied and the children have taken over the households of their frightened parents.
The Willie Mae Pratt Center for Girls and indeed the Simpson Penn Center for Boys should be high on the priority list of the new government's commitment to trust, and should be a core point of the youth development program. If the children are allowed to rule, the country will certainly be in trouble.