Last Thursday, emphasis was placed on the proposition that “the youth should have no doubt that they are extremely indispensable to the process of engineering the road to the Nation, not in a patronizing or belittling way, but in circumstances in which they are truly and unequivocally assured that they are forever inextricably intertwined on the way forward”.
Positioning Trinidad and Tobago on the path to becoming an exemplary law-abiding society will only succeed with the proactive participation and involvement of our young citizens, especially Generations X, Y and Z born between 1987 and 2012.
objectives
Therefore, the primary objective of this initiative is to provide our young citizens with versatile opportunities to express their views and ideas in search of strategies to eradicate the scourge of crime and lawlessness that defiantly plagues the nation. The secondary objective is to create an environment which will attract their best cultural attributes in their search for purpose, progress and fulfillment in their personal lives: making the right choices.
Participation and involvement
This will take the form of a portfolio of nationwide crime reduction competitions that will be organized using a wide range of creative disciplines, giving all our young citizens multiple opportunities to participate and get involved based on their individual unique creative abilities, talents, personal tastes and appetites. . They will be free to compete in any number of oral, written and/or artistic bids, each in accordance with the established rules and guidelines.
Competition categories
Activities you can choose from will include debating, public speaking, impromptu speaking, choral speaking, songwriting and singing, panel discussions, quizzes, essay writing, poetry composition, recitation, spoken word , slogans, writing short stories, designing carnival costumes also as relevant aspects of visual and graphic arts.
Participants
Participation will be limited to young people between the ages of ten and 35 and will be open to primary and secondary school students and students of colleges, tertiary institutions, technical training institutions, trade schools, members of sports organizations, clubs youth, community councils, village councils, youth-based social, business, economic, cultural and religious organizations and unaffiliated youth.
The focal point
The focal point of all participation and involvement will be the mitigation of crime and lawlessness and the creation of a law-abiding society: Cornerstone of the Nation #6.
ISSUES
Issues to be addressed will include juvenile delinquency, school violence, substance abuse, bullying, crime and punishment, punishment or rehabilitation, prisoner rehabilitation, alienation, domestic violence, social transformation, gender and ethnic educational disparities. , roles of church, school, parents, Government, business, labor movement, professional bodies, protective services, judiciary, NGOs, community and role models, influence of peer pressure, conventional and social media, music, politics, poverty, wealth , corruption, good life, unemployment, unemployment, illiteracy, etc. Judges will be selected by a panel of experienced personnel drawn from influential sectors of the national community.
Deliverable
The main outcome is that of laying the cornerstone of the nation upon which Trinidad and Tobago will transition into a law-abiding society.
Others will include:
Young people: 1. Proactive involvement in the search for solutions for crime prevention; 2. Creating a more favorable learning environment; 3. Preoccupation with raising and enriching mentality development activities; 4. Maximizing their wisdom, knowledge and understanding; 5. Developing their literary, debating, public speaking, creative and general communication skills.
Adults: 1. Greater awareness of their children’s potential; 2. Deeper understanding and appreciation of the mindset of today’s youth; 3. Public awareness of ways and means to help prevent crime; 4. Reduction of fear and anxiety among teachers and parents; 5. Higher levels of community and individual comfort; 6. Increased morale among the security services; and 7. Widespread positive media exposure.
Results
Outcome 1: A society passionately mobilized in a new approach to overcoming the nation’s greatest challenge through the cross-fertilization of citizens’ views, ideas, opinions, suggestions, solutions and strategies.
Outcome 2: While some initiatives can be implemented in the short term and become ongoing, others may require longer gestation periods. As activities develop and momentum builds, citizens will be simultaneously and exponentially sensitized about measures to create and maintain safe, secure, peaceful and harmonious communities.
Outcome 3: The cross-fertilization of ideas articulated and embraced during the project period will form the core for the development, planning and implementation of a comprehensive citizen-driven strategy to eradicate the scourge of crime and lawlessness, and ultimately lay the foundation stone of the Nation for Trinidad and Tobago’s transition to an exemplary law-abiding society.
Application
This is not a quick fix approach. A citizen-led non-governmental initiative, coordinated by a cadre of new, independent exemplars, is envisaged, which will determine the time frame, estimated cost and funding sources. Work on creating an implementation framework is currently in progress.
— Author Roy Mitchell is former advisor and special coordinator, National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC).
