Tevin Turdon

Here's something to think about: one is employed to clean up a certain mess, one gets trained for that particular job and gets thrown in the deep end. The expectations are to clean it up fast and maintain the cleanliness.

Let's look at the facts: The dirt has been there for over a century; the people around it have gotten used to it and don't pay attention to it anymore (dying silently on the inside) so much so that they too litter as if it's the only way of life. The one employed to clean up gets paid a bare a minimum (just enough to travel between work and home); the hours are ridiculous and he/she has to risk his/her life to get his/her job accomplished. Over and above this, the employed has to do it within a stipulated period (pressured for swift results).

"Being a police man these days is like practicing suicide everyday for a measly payment at the end of the month."

However, blaming the weather conditions for storms and winds that cause more dirt in the area one is appointed to clean up, cannot be an excuse for not doing much.

What could the solution to this be? I understand that there are various factors contributing to the escalation of crime in this country. We need to put our heads together and fight it together, because, truth be told, it is our brothers and sister who commit these ridiculous crimes not some alien force from outer-space.

Now let's look at the possible factors at play contributing to the high scourge of crime in this country.

Discrimination

Discrimination of one people by another has been the cause of many things, but in this particular case I would like to talk about it with reference to crime. I think we can all agree that most people will do anything to survive and that if this fight for survival takes place over an extended period of time, it will be difficult to persuade those who have been fighting that they no longer need to use their own survival skills.

For a long time, the discriminated-against had to learn how to survive ? yes, sometimes the wrong habits were learnt and mastered. Today we all have to work together to help those who were forced to use such survival skills to help them understand that they acquired wrong, unnecessary, and self-destructive skills.

Be mindful, I don't intend to start a topic on past discrimination, but rather to establish an explanation for the current state of affairs, bearing in mind that not all of those who were discriminated against in the past resorted to crime (different strokes for different folks).

Lack of education

Lack of education has also played a huge role in escalating crime numbers. When one is uneducated, one is more likely to be unemployable and for one to survive, one has to be innovative and creative. In some cases, that's when one ends up being criminally creative and innovative.

I am tempted to make mention of the shortage of employment opportunities, but having discussed the fact that lack of education is a major cause of unemployment, it would be rather redundant for me to try to discuss it as a stand-alone issue (as we all know that no one would want to employ someone who can't carry out the responsibilities of the job due to the lack of comprehension of the specifications required for the job).

However, the lack of education can also be traced back to a number of factors.

Family values

Families are struggling to educate their children both academically and humanely. The academic part of it would require that the family have the necessary tools to educate their children. This would include: the money to school them; the guidance and moral support to see to it that the children give their all at school; and the encouragement to stick it out at school, both by example (being educated themselves and reaping the fruits thereof) and by emotional encouragement.

The humane part would be to educate them about respect for others and for education, and the importance of valuing education. Human morals have to be part and parcel of this attribute, in that these children would have to be taught respect for others and human life ? not just respecting, but highly valuing life.

Once we've got the education part right, I am confident that we would have made it, as there would no longer be much need to invest in major ways of curbing crime.

In conclusion, I say let's invest more on educating our people, not only academically, but in every way we possibly can.

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