Planting on virgin soil

THE EDITOR: In this rainbow country there are thousands who speak with excessive pride and self-satisfaction, expressing that their love is not for political party but for country.

Dressed in the national colours, this category of citizens is never absent for any of our annual Independence Day parades. The flying of national flags and the use of bumper stickers with the national colours stuck on their vehicles form part of their expressions of national consciousness.

The true and loyal patriots in the population must extend their range of commitment to devoting some of their time and expertise to some form of national service.

Currently no attention is being paid to the communities in which our youths are at war with youths of other communities I– a war spanning over a hundred years. It should be noted that World War II had a duration of three years and eight months and Desert Storm, 43 days.

The combat between our youths in these warring communities cannot stop on its own accord and would rally on for another century should there be a continued absence of professional intervention as the temperament being exhibited by most of the youths involved has been inherited.

Genetic factors unveil themselves in a variety of ways. In according with science, our bodies consist of 46 chromosomes, 22 of which come from the male parent, and 22 from the female parent. One sex chromosome comes from each parent, which determines the sex of the child. The genes in these chromosomes transmit to the offspring a number of hereditary characteristics of the immediate parents and the parents’ ancestors.

There are professionals in the field of medicine and law and the proficiency levels of their offsprings who chose those fields were just as high and their mannerism just as distinguished.

Some families’ identification lies in baldness. While the females are not affected, as the males in these families enter their mid-thirties, severe baldness begins.

This country has produced professional footballers who represented us in foreign games and some of their sons and grandsons displayed tremendous ball skills at an early age. There is a host of positive characteristics that is handed down in the genes.

In diametrical contrast there are negative genes which are responsible for criminal conduct, patterns of anti-social behaviour and certain types of illnesses. Also playing a damaging role is poor quality and harmful example. What is occurring in the lives of some of our youths is similar but not identical to drug addiction.

The task at hand can be likened unto workers journeying into the forested areas accompanied by rangers who know the forest well, selecting the younger trees growing among older ones, shaping and aligning them towards proper growth and development while their trunks and limbs are yet soft and flexible.

Breaking a hundred-year cycle of criminality and lawlessness entails years of committed, dedicated and caring service. Our psychologists, men of the cloth and other professionals who love their native land and are enthusiastic about positive change should decide carefully on what age group should be targeted.

They should enter the affected communities accompanied by community police who would be acquainted with the activities of the residents. They should begin “constructive” work on the children in order to steer them in the right direction in a bid to shield them from pitfalls that may lie ahead.

We are indeed attempting to undertake a mission that can be described as virgin as there has never been any organisation or authority charged with the responsibility of breaking criminal cycles in TT. The nearest approach was the passing of the anti-gang legislation.

We salute the true and loyal patriots of this land, among whom would be high office holders. An abundance of praise and honest appreciation go out to them as all arrows point towards them as being the only source from which help would be derived to rescue our most vulnerable, our pre-teens.

Breaking a century-long cycle of violence, criminality and lawlessness is by no means an easy task. The convening of our patriots’ first meeting may be regarded as just a “single step” but when their set goal has been finally achieved and inevitably gun violence and the country’s murder rate have dropped to acceptable levels, this would be a “giant leap” for our country.

DAVID C O’NEAL

via e-mail