Garcia: Parents must take responsibility for children

Parents must take responsibility for their children. Education Minister Anthony Garcia yesterday said it was not acceptable for a parent to say, ‘my child was good and I don’t know what happened’, whenever a young person is killed during a crime.

The minister was referring to the case last week where 15-year-old Isaac Simmons was shot dead by police during an incident in which policeman Anand Ram was also shot after Ram and other officers were responding to a break in at Gopaul Lands.

Ram was shot in the abdomen and had to undergo emergency surgery. Two other people are in custody for the attempted robbery.

After Simmons’ death, his grandmother Merlyn Rock said she dreamt of her grandson’s death by police and had warned him. She said she spoke to him about his involvement in crime. Now his mother, Shenelle Rock is claiming her son was targeted by police.

Minister Garcia said the absence of community involvement in the upbringing of the nation’s youth has been cited as one of the major reasons for the prevalence of young people being involved in crime and gang activity.

“It is a problem that society has to deal with. We have had a proliferation of crime and criminal behaviour in our country for some time, and this does not auger well for the development of our country, particularly our young people. We have found in the school system we have put things in place to combat indiscipline and violence, and while we have gained significant success, indiscipline has now migrated out of the schools into the community,” Garcia said. Garcia said parents have a responsibility to ensure their children know right from wrong. He said while the interest of the parents is of tremendous importance, the community has to come together.