A gang called Cayman

| 09/03/2010

Right now, somewhere in Grand Cayman, three or four young Caymanian men are sitting together in a room talking about revenge. They are putting together a plan to kill another young Caymanian. These boys lack the internal values or good sense that would lead them to pause and think this through.

They are not so much evil monsters as stupid idiots. Failing to visualize the long-term consequences of trying to settle a score with a gun, they are close to taking a life and ruining their own lives.

They are tomorrow’s headline. When they strike, Cayman will again cringe and lurch in a frenzy of horror, fear, and anger. Listen, can’t you just hear the clichés coming out of their young mouths? The bad boys aren’t analyzing the risks of their ambush or debating the morality of their plan, they just spouting empty lines that seem borrowed from bad movies.

“We can’t back down.”

“We’re going to show them who runs things.”

“Let’s make him pay.”

“We are going to shoot them down like dogs.”

It’s the oldest story of all. You hurt me, now I’m gonna hurt you. Only, in this case, these boys are hurting all of us. They are dragging our entire country down with them. Most tragic of all, we seem far too willing to take the plunge. Just listen to the radio talk show callers. Read the posts on CNS. Hear conversations on the street:

“Gang members should be shot on sight.”

“Government needs to hire hit men to quietly get rid of them all.”

“No criminal should get legal aid.”

“The police should shoot them all and be done with it.”

“We should shoot them down like dogs.”

Keep in mind, these words are coming from the “good” people of Cayman. In our fear we are losing our way, losing our grip on morality. Maybe we already lost it. Maybe we never had it. We despise gang culture, yet too many of us speak exactly like members of a gang. Compare the words of those who are supposed to be on the side of law and order and the gunmen who are running wild in the streets. What is the difference?

“Shoot them down like dogs.”

Is Cayman just another gang? More than a few citizens have called for gang members to be murdered and no less than the leader of our country repeatedly says that untried “criminals” should not have access to legal aid. He apparently believes that being arrested alone is a sufficient conviction. Gangbangers do not believe in trials either.

Is this what we want to become? Is this the best we can do? Gang crime scares us and angers us so therefore we lean their way? Really? It’s time for the Cayman Islands to do some soul searching.

We must ask ourselves if we will fight violence with primitive emotion or with civilized intelligence. Will we become the same ignorant monster we claim to hate? Or will we defeat it by being smarter and better than the monster? Will we react to the threat of guns by adding more guns to our society? Will we react to killing by killing? Will we answer lawlessness with lawlessness? Will we answer hate with hate?

Or will we defend the high ground and try to solve the real problems? Anyone with any sense knows why young men become killers. It is because their parents and their society failed them when they were babies and children. Violent anger and lethal stupidity do not just magically appear in a child. It is put there by incompetent parents, inadequate schools, and a society with misplaced priorities.

If we are serious about fighting the monsters then we must attack them where they are manufactured. The real battle is not in the streets with gunmen. It is in homes and schools, for that is where they come from. Another wave is already on the way. Right now, abuse, neglect and ignorance are training up the next generation of Caymanian killers.

Talk is cheap, Cayman. If we hope to fix this problem, simply catching criminals won’t do. We must stop creating them in the first place. 

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Anyone with any sense knows why young men become killers. It is because their parents and their society failed them when they were babies and children. Violent anger and lethal stupidity do not just magically appear in a child. It is put there by incompetent parents, inadequate schools, and a society with misplaced priorities.

    I disagree with the above statement by Cayman Conscience.  That is not the reason young men become killers.  I know some of the gang members who are from very decent families who raised them along with other siblings who are very productive citizens and that one child turned out bad. Some people are weak-minded and easily led by the offer of material things, some are adventurous and think this lifestyle is exciting.  Some of these criminals did very well in school too,and were sent to private schools.  In fact the one that is charged for murder right now was one of the top students in his school.   What is also very worrying is the "good girls" who get caught up with these gangsters and the future generation of gangsters which we will have.  We need to concentrate on our young girls and not only on our young men.

     

    • Very well put! A big part of the problem is that these same young men who are so Hell-bent on revenge and murder don’t take the time to try to find out the actual facts and truth before the go after someone and try to kill them or actually do go and kill them. How hard can it be to find out the other side of the story rather than just listening and focusing on the most negative stories you’ve heard?!

      For those who are thinking of going and taking someone’s life, bear this in mind: Murder Begets Murder!!!

      Please stop and think, young people, before picking up a gun or any other weapon and going to do someone harm. Take into consideration thatthere are other lives at stake and other lives, many of which are the innocent children of the people who are targeted, that can and will be ruined forever once you’ve committed your act of terrorism against an individual.

      You CAN approach an individual and find out THEIR side of the story. And, if you don’t want to do it yourself, have someone else find out. But, there’s nothing better than hearing it for yourself rather than relying on 2nd or 3rd hand information. So, be a man and try to talk and come to an understanding BEFORE you pick up your weapon.

      A song came on the TV the other day, as I was watching a documentary/story and it really made sense when I listened to the words. I looked it up on YouTube and found a copy and listened to it more carefully, Thug Holiday, by Trick Daddy:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBDfK0ThQ2A

  2. Yer avvin a laff says:

    So what you’re saying is people become violent criminals due to a mistake in strategic planning.

    It seems you grossly underestimatethe evil of the human heart while also denigrating the intelligence of people who, for all you know, might get away with it and thereby prove you wrong.

     

     

  3. Anonymous says:

    Could we please have some immediate tough action to remove the violent criminals from our streets? How many more people must be killed by these thugs before the politician’s take action?  Yes everyone must do what they can to support the police, but the politicians have a role in keeping the criminals off our streets – a role that they are failing totally.

    I have no problem with people having "retreats" to come up with solutions for the long term, but first of all I want something done to make the streets safe NOW. I have no problem with people wringing there hands and chanting "poor little gangstas – they must need a hug". I do have a problem with no action whatsoever being taken to end the rapidly escalating violence in my country. 

    Until our lazy politicians get off their butts and bring in new legislation that imposes much longer minimum sentences for violent crimes, ends parole for violent crimes and makes it almost impossible for persons charged with violent crimes to get parole then the shootings that occurred tonight will keep on happening and witnesses will continue to be intimidated. Until the politicians get off their butts and bring in legislation that makes Northward a place that criminals fear the threat of imprisonment will not be a deterrent. Until the politicians get off their butts and coordinate a system of CCTV coverage for all high crime areas and all roads into and out of problem areas then the violence will continue.

    If immediate action is not taken then there will be no alternative but for people to take their own security into their own hands. I don’t want that to happen but until and unless we get a government that is willing to take tough action there is likely to be no alternative. 

  4. carpet muncher says:

    Why do so many Caymanians continue to repeat the idea that Northward Prison must become more brutal and uncomfortable in order to deter crime? Some even give the example of Jamaica’s feared prison as a model to be duplicated. 

    Okay, Jamaica has a horrible dungeon of a prison. Has that stopped violent crime in Jamaica? Making Northward Prison a black pit of pain and despair will not stop Cayman crime. It will only show how inhumane our society is.

    I hear Turkish prisons are prettyrough. But guess what? People still commit crimes in Turkey.

    I suspect that the Caymanians who want Northward Prison to be some sort of hell hole just want revenge. It has nothing to do with solving the crime problem.

    • Anonymous says:

      Your argument that countries with tough prisons have crime and that therefore no county should have a tough prison system is ludicrous. Countries with good hospitals still have people that develop diseases. Would you suggest that all good hospitals should close?

      The prospect of prison ought to be a deterrent. Northward is not for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that at the moment Cayman’s prison is more like a spa than a place criminals fear to go.

      I would have no problem with the government reducing its costs by permitting the prison to function without A/C, without cell phones, without the ability of prisoners to have takeout food on demand and with prisoners being required to contribute to their own upkeep. If that would turn it into a "hell hole" then I think that arrangements might be made for you to billet those violent criminals that you might want to rescue – all at your expense of course. Perhaps we could start with you offering the hospitality of your home to those that shot up West Bay this evening.  

       

       

       Violent criminals in prison shoot fewer children than those not in prison. 

      • noname says:

        I agree with you. All the points you list are reasonable. The previous post was in response to those who are saying that Northward should be more like a torture chamber than a modern prison. I see nothing wrong with denying prisoners AC, TV, takeout food service.

        I do, however, see something wrong with beating prisoners and denying them basic humane treatment.

      • Anonymous says:

        If Northward prison is such a wonderful hotel why don’t you and the rest that think as you do spend your next vacation there? Please remember to send post cards and keep a diary to inform the next group who wish to take their vacation there.

        Have a nice day and remember to send picture post cards from Northward signed with love forever more……

  5. caymanian says:

    I agree with most of the article and a 100% in agreement with the roots of the problem: Education, parenting and roll modeling. Improving those with urgency will turn the tides. However that is the right solution for the long lasting results. For the immediate, the mistakes are done and the solution is not an easy one. Violence generates violence, that is correct. However historically and in short term, the powerful and resolute takes control of the weaker regardless of who is right. That is why a group of people fights for its demands (American Revolution 1776, Civil Wars, etc). Order and discipline is established and maintained by the fears of punishment more so than for the clarity of what is right and wrong.

    I believe the steps mentioned by Caymanian Consience need to be implemented now however, to prevent more killings the response needs to be strong in the short term.

  6. Anonymous says:

    "three meals a day no bills to pay" is another popular ignorant statement by criminals.

     

    Why doesn’t the government look to save some money on the prisons?

    No a/c / no tv / bread and water for breakfast lunch and dinner. No soap on a rope…then we can hear about people actually being scared to go to prison.

    Oh and why not put them to work on public projects to save more money?

    They can be a part of a new gang "Chaingangs".

    • Anonymous says:

      NRA (national roads authority and PWD (public works department) and … should consist of prisoners.  This would be giving them real work & saving government a lot of money(so needed) rather than increasing governments debt should be increasing its assets.  One of the big reason that these folks are in prison is because they choose the so called ‘easy way’ -robbing, killing(in the drug war..) so REAL work would definetly be a deterent.

      No one likes prison in Jamaica-why(one reason) because you have to work.  Please do not let the guys keep coming out of prison and bragging that all they do in HMP is sleep & eat (everything but real work)

       

      • Seriously says:

        And lets not forget the beaches … they’re disgusting and who knows what the tourists think of them.  Every day I go down there and there is more and more rubbish lyingaround.  This is mainly left over from tourists during the week but the majority is from parties taking place on the weekend.  In a way you can’t really blame the tourist – if something is already filthy is there a need to clean up after yourself?

        So my solution is:  Lets have the prisoners on their hands and knees in the midday heat trawling through the sand picking up chicken and fish bones, plastic cups and bottles, beer bottles, plastic knives and forks, dirty nappies and all the other general rubbish that the other "soft criminals" have left behind. 

        But then there would be an outcry from some prisoner’s mommy saying "thats barbaric, what kind of society do we live in" and the prisoner’s would go back to their easy life of free food, tv, gym etc.

        What can I say.  Crime does pay!

        • Heather W says:

          I just had to comment on the beaches being dirty…when I was there in January 2010 the beaches were beautiful and clean.  The men were out there cleaning them all the time.  What I did notice however was that the men that went fishing at night time threw their squid baitboxes and beer cans on the beaches.  They were people living on the island not the visitors.  Look at yourselves too!  Don’t just blame the tourists.  I saw complete differences.  We were driving down Frank Sound Rd and a car full of "natives" were throwing garbage out the window.  it sickened me to think that the beautiful island was getting trashed by their own citizens.  Such a shame!

          • Kaylee says:

            Heather I completely agree with you.  I live near the old Marriot courtyard and every morning that I go to the beach I pick up beer cans and water bottles etc.  I had thought for the longest time that tourists were leaving them behind and it was really ticking me off, but for the past three weekends in a row I’ve been on the beach when there have been groups of residents and on four or five different occasions these groups have left without taking a single piece of their trash to a bin.   There is no excuse for this type of behaviour, there are bins nearby – they’re often full but trash can always be left beside them rather than spread out across the beach.  Littering won’t be on the forefront of everyone’s minds just now with everything else that’s going on on the Island, but maybe we should all be trying to remember that respect can start with the little things.

    • Anonymous says:

       Don’t some of them get turtle meat and chicken breast just made right too??  Carpet…dental & vision (that I can’t even afford because I’m too strapped after paying the price for crime about 6 ways)…a library… online (reformation privileges?)… yeah, I’d say they can pay for crime at least some of the ways.  Maybe we can share paying for crime in more ways than one.  Why should I have to pay all the ways???  Chaingangs inhumane?  What about the rights and the counselling bills the victims and their families incur so they can rest and relax with a clean conscience now that they’re being "punished" for their crimes.  

      Idle hands are a devil’s workshop. When they return to prison…they shouldn’t even know when they hit the bed. They should be sleeping before they drag themselves to their hotel rooms and maybe a cattle prodused to wake them up so they can walk to their rooms only to pass out again (just kidding but you get the idea).   We have graveyards…holes to dig to run lines, nasty public toilets/bathrooms to be cleaned PROPERLY, beaches to sweep… etc.  Is that inhumane to work them?  I think it’s HONORABLE to work.  Hotel stays for 20 years while I work to feed your mouth with expensive food… How could you ever repay me and my children you robbed from?  Get it right…work never killed anyone…it helps them live longer and wiser.

      TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO 
      HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF 
      AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER 
      HERE ARE SOME REASONS WHY:

      Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona ) who created the ‘ Tent City Jail’: 
      – He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. 
      – He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights 
      -Sheriff Arpaio fitted his inmates with pink boxer shorts to stem thefts of prison underwear.

      http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/miracopjail.htm

  7. Joe Average says:

    " Is Cayman just another gang? "

    I guess this is as good a question as any.

    When we look back now on what we’ve been doing to each other, one of the things that strikes me is how easily we fall into our "them" vs. "us" type of attitude.  The constant and never-ending and oh so boring True Born and Bred Caymanian to the Bone vs. The Evil Blood Sucking Taking Advantage Ex-Pat.

    This backward attitude has been so instilled and so prevalent in all of our conversations it is no wonder it filters down into our younger people.  I said "our" younger people. Because we all live here.  And most of us were younger at one time.

    If we, and it’s difficult not to, constantly take the easy way by blaming others for everything that happens to us we don’t agree with and every obstacle we find in our lives.  Our children hear that. 

    They hear us taking sides.

    And it’s usually "our side" against "another side."  And of course we’re in the right.  The message we give is we have been affronted or taken advantage of in some way and we must fight back to regain our dignity or equal the score.  Because of "them." 

    t doesn’t really matter who "them" is.  All we know is, they’re different in some way. And if they aren’t, find ways that they are.  Either a different nationality, religion, skin color, ex-pat, Caymanian, or as a last ditch neighborhood or district.  Somehow they’re different.

    That’s easy to do when in some way all the adults are doing the same.

    My recollection of being younger was the struggle, and all young people go through it, to be different.  To assert my individuality and let it be known that I was different.  Of course there are positive and negative ways to do that but  we have to show them, our young people, the positive ways that we’ve found through trial and error.  Right now, we are erroring, if there is such a word, in a large way.  By… not showing them… this is our island, our home, and every person here has a right to be treated equally.

    The message we need to send to these young people is we won’t put up with prejudice and extracting vengeance because we know better.

    How are we doing so far?  All of us ex-pats and Caymanians?

     

  8. Heather W says:

    Fantastic article!  So serious and from the heart!  While I don’t live in Cayman, I came to the most beautiful island in January.  I can’t wait for the opportunity to come back again.  I will not fear thugs.  I will look to the beautiful Caymanian people I met.  The most generous, caring and thoughtful people in the world.  Yes, there are always bad seeds.  Bad seeds will continue to be bad until the government and people stand up to those cowards.  That is all they are.  They are not strong people, they are people that use weapons to try to persuade people into their clutches.  Stand up!  Face them!  Try to aid those that are being abused and being taken in by these gangs.  That poor child who thinks they have no one to care for them, will turn to the gangs who promise these kids money, clothes, houses, love, etc.  It is all a lie! We as adults know this but children are so impressionable at a young age.  Every night a child should be put to bed with love.  Read a book, sing a song, hug, kiss, tickle, whatever it takes show them love.  I am a mother of 3 beautiful children.  I live in the states where there are many many bad influences.  The love at home will steer them clear away from the problems in society.  They know that they have love, respect, support, etc.  I will never let them down. If these children do not have the proper upbringing it will effect them for life.  In the states we are learning slowly that if someone is a pedophile, they will always be a pedophile, if they are a rapist, they will always be a rapist.  There is no therapy to make them a different person.  Most of the people that are into crime, were raised that way.  Yes there are plenty of parents who worked their butts off to make sure they raised good children, but their children wentthe wrong way.  It is not always the parents fault but in MOST cases it is.

     

    Stay true to yourselves Caymanians.  You are truly beautiful people!  Get yourselves together and plan against them.  If they know that they are being watched and that their behavior is unacceptable, they will slow down, if not stop. The penalties need to be more severe because a life in prison is no life at all.  They need to start making examples of those that they are prosecuting to the fullest.  It can not only be the police that stops this behavior but the citizens of Cayman also.  Police are not all honest either. If there is corruption (which I am sure there is) you have to get them out of there.  Bring in police from other areas of the world to solve this problem because the natives that are on the force may personally know and care about that Caymanian that went wrong and will hesitate to arrest them. 

    I love your beautiful Island and plan to come back in June of 2011!!!!  Crime or not I will be there.

    • Anonymous says:

      I believe that the RCIP needs to find out who "heads up" the gangs and get talking to them. Bring the two gangs together in a room and have a mediator there who can seriously bring these issue to a resolution or even "squash it". Most likely it is over drug turf or females. This is ruining lives, communities, tourism, etc. As a mediator, I would choose the "coolest, youngest, most respected officer" that would be able to deal with this type of situation…maybe even a female.  I am pretty sure that most of these "boys" are in their 20’s, have not been "gang members" for too long and need to be shown an alternative to this life style. Have a job/schooling plan waiting for them that would be interesting to them. Then, get their "boys" involved in some sporting event "gang" against "gang" (police present) and keep this going several weeks/months until they get into the sports and forget why they were fighting in the first place. These sporting events need to be late nite and offer free sneakers, T-shirts, prizes, positive media!

      In your schools, I also believe that you need to dedicate at least 3 – 4 people who students can go to for "a safety net". The students can go to these people and give information, get help, guidance and those people can go to the police with information, but will never, ever!!!! give out the students names. These "people" can also direct students where to go get help on health issues etc. These "people" can also work with the gangs in the schools, pregnant teens, drop-outs , etc.

      I do not believe that most teens/young adults want to be in gangs and most, once in a gang life style, want to get out. If options are shown to these youth, and they are shown ways to obtain positive opportunities, with help, they will follow thru.

      Positive role models in the communities work! Peer-mentors are huge! Job shadowing programs! Summer work programs. Good luck!

       

       

       

       

    • Richard N. Parson says:

       Thank you.  At least you seem to have met the "good people"  of Cayman.  I have said it before and I will say it again.  There are many more of the "good" than the "bad".  When the good people of Cayman stand together, report what they see, turn in names, videos, photos, whatever evidence they have, they can win this war with the gangs.  Cayman is small enough to control this.

      • Anonymous says:

        But perhaps many of the "good people" they’ve met have been expats who work in the service industry.  Just a thought….

        • Heather W says:

          The "Good" people were natives.  They had been on the Island their whole life.  Believe it or not, it is quite easy to tell the difference in a native and expat.  I just wanted to clarify that they were truly native to the island.  It was not the service industry at all. Those workers were from all other countries.  Quite a few were from Canada and were nasty people.  It amazes me that some of these hotels hire people who have no business being in the service industry.

  9. someone who gave up says:

    "We must ask ourselves if we will fight violence with primitive emotion or with civilized intelligence. Will we become the same ignorant monster we claim to hate? Or will we defeat it by being smarter and better than the monster?"

    Caymanian Conscience, that is a well-written piece as expected.  The problem is that both the government and law enforcement have wholly failed to deal with the explosion of armed violent crime in Cayman, and there is no sign of change on the horizon.  When citizens lose hope or faith in the ability of the state to protect them, they can only, must and will take steps to protect themselves. 

    Individual citizens can’t change societal things such as how other people are raising their children now, let alone could they go back in time to change how the current crop of Caymanian criminals were raised.  The sphere of influence of a citizen abandoned by the state is really quite limited.

    You ask, "…will we defend the high ground…", but the individual citizen cannot deal with actual violence with such clean philosophical abstractions.  They deal with real guns in their neighbourhoods, and the actual and immediate threat of violent death from criminals that the state can’t control.  There is no room for philosophical abstraction in such circumstances.  The citizens can only make themselves safe by procative defence: killing the would-be killer before he kills you. 

    There is no such thing as political stability in the absence of personal safety.  Faced with anarchy the citizen is forced to become an anarchist; survival demands that.  It is therefore quite reasonable to see citizens who have been abandoned by the state (so far as it concerns their personal security) considering lawless solutions.  The "lawful" ones have failed.  The law has failed.  The state has failed.  Self defence is all that remains.  There’s nothing to be philosophical about when looking into the barrel of an enemy’s gun.

    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you for takingthe time to post such an articulate and irrefutable response.

  10. Anonymous says:

    I say we should shoot them down like dogs

  11. Anonymous says:

    Insightful.

     

    Shows the perspective of many of these youths "peers" and where they have learned their "lessons" from.

     

    Tragic.

  12. Anonymous says:

    very well written by someone who clearly has intelligence – perhaps this could be passed on to Mac et al……..

    a very refreshing read, gives hope that someone out there at not lost all perspective….

     

    Thank you!

  13. Dennis Smith says:

    So well said, thank you.

    I had a paper route and a job cleaning public toilets until I was 14 and worked part time evenings and weekends in retail stores afterwards and my family was not poor, they believed that I should learn to work. By the time I left school and left home I was already an experienced  worker and an aspiring businessman. I saw my future in terms of working and improving, I knew that my boss would fire me if I didn’t perform and I also expected that he would replace me with someone better if the opportunity came up. I guess that’s why I never stopped improving and educating myself. Turned out to be a good foundation for my own business as well.

    The old Cayman protection law created the false idea that employment was a right, not an opportunity and we are now seeing the result. A noncompetitive culture that fights for employment by right instead of working very hard to get a competitive education or gain the skilled work experience needed to gain a foothold in the employment market. The job that you get because you are Caymanian is only an opportunity to excel, not an entitlement for a lifetime pay cheque while others fight to drive the business forward.

    Without a competitive improvement culture we can build schools, offer scholarships, start businesses and even change laws, but we will never be able to educated and employ people who don’t care. The future of Cayman is in the hands of Caymanians and its politicians, if we don’t all get realistic and competitive we will see many more problems in the future. The youth of today are the result of culture that has coasted down the path of least resistance until it no longer has the competitive will or talent needed to build a future based on performance.

    • Anonymous says:

      PUT YOUNG CAYMANIANS BACK TO WORK !!

      When the Government had the "Island Wide Clean-up" in December, hundreds of young Caymanians were willing to work out in the hot sun.  They worked hard and had the island looking beautiful, they were proud to be cleaning up their island and getting a few "honest" dollars every week.  People working on the "Island Wide Clean-Up" ranged from college graduates to those without a high school certificate……All were willing to work for their islands,  and CRIME WAS DOWN !!

      Government give Caymanians back their jobs.  Stop bragging about how much money the Immigration Department is making from "work permits".  Majority of those foreigners do not care about the islands.  They only care about making money and sending it back to their own countries.  In a few years time, they return to their countries to live in grand homes, while caymanians will be in Gang run homes.  The Government need to realize that giving so many jobs to foreigners only make matters worse for the islands.  When a Caymanian can do the job, let them be employed.

      Government making thousands of $$$$$ on work permits and destroying the islands is very foolish.  Give Caymanians back their jobs.  If they were willing to work out in the hot cayman sun,  those people will be willing to work in the shade too !!!

  14. Anonymous says:

    Excellent posting as always…

  15. Darveson says:

    We know the problem. Can it be fixed? How? The leaves on a tree are withering, should we cut off the branch (shoot them like dogs) or fertilize the soil? It is easy to say, but hard to do. They weren’t born to be evil people.  They are a product of their environment. A woman has three kids, two different fathers and the kids are confused as to who to call daddy. They see daddy being unfaithful or beating mommy, what else do we expect them to do except grow up, continue the pattern and be criminals? Neither morality nor common sense can be legislated, so what do we do? We have declared that either sports or religion will cure all ills, but we have not tried to break the pattern. We continue to be unfaithful to our spouse, continue to hang out at the bar rather than go fishing with our kids and we wonder why the government has failed us. I was always told that the government is the people, therefore, we have failed ourselves. I hope one day we will realize that true value lies in planning to make tomorrow a better day, not in what I own or wear. Lets strive to better  not just our life, but the life of those we encounter.

    • Seriously says:

      Sorry, I disagree with this comment.  Just because you see your father beating your mother doesn’t mean you yourself have to go down that road.  It is too easy to blame a child’s upbringing when they become criminals.  Yes, you can blame the parents for the lack of respect and for not having mentored the child but everyone has a choice in life.  Unfortunately, some just take the "easier" route and/or succumb to pier pressure rather than make the decision to say no.  For that, you cannot blame the parents only the individual.

  16. Anonymous says:

    You are correct that the long term solution lies in changing the complex social dynamics that produce violent young men, and you are correct that we need to find that long term solution.  You are wrong, in my view, to the extent that you suggest that we do not need to take whatever action is necessary to make our streets safe now.

    We face an immediate problem with those that have chosen the path of violent crime. Violent criminals are threatening the lives of everyone in our community now. An innocent child has been murdered. The solution to the immediate problem, the immediate real battle, is with the violent young men who are terrorising our streets, our families and the entire community. 

    The violent criminals must be removed permantly from our streets NOW. I hope that their removal can be accomplished in a non-violent manner, but their removal must be accomplished by whatever means is necessary. 

     

  17. MonkeySee says:

    interesting piece!

    Lets all turn off BET/MTV/Wii/XBox/whatever is distracting to your family & sit down with our children and talk to them…see what’s going on in their world…show up to their school events, listen to their concerns, be the role models to them that NO public figure could be. 

    Lets take a moment to realise that the old saying is true: you can’t expect anything DIFFERENT if you keep doing the SAME thing!

    I love Cayman

    I love my children

    I love West Bay.

    I will be part of the change…how?  that road isnt clearly marked yet btu I am starting at home. 

    • Anonymous says:

       If you think this is not true…. I recall shortly after Ivan…our hard working parents had to work some serious overtime to make ends meet and to help their bosses.  Yeah… there was alot of time that children were left unsupervised… Hey when mommy comes home she wants to be with her man and children so they all got together and the man ended up sleeping over and the children became of second importance. I remember a young girl telling me she was going out because her mommy didn’t mind (having private time with her "man").  Yeah… the children were babysat by BET…. etc and we say the changing of the video culture…it was all gang related videos…shooting up ppl.  What do you expect our children to do??  Yeah…we think it’s cute when a 6 month old can show Beyonce a ting or two… but replace that with violence on tv and we see how our young ppl are desensitized to the max.  BRAINWASHED!

    • Anonymous says:

      So true…. in Jamaica they have a saying that goes " yuh affi learn fi dance a yard  before yuh dance abroad"… IT ALL STARTS FROM HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

  18. Anonymous says:

    SO TRUE.

  19. whodatis says:

    "I nah ‘fraid go Nort’ward!"

    This frighteningly popular sentiment, my friends, is one of, if not THE key factor in regards to our current issue of serious crime.