I send this message so as to enter publicly the debate about the killings in St. Kitts. St. Kitts has always had a violent side. "Ah ge you a knife" is a phrase I heard many times as a boy growing up in the fifties and early sixties.
I recall that once in my village a man and an old lady were chopped following a silly argument; who closed up Dieppe Bay, i.e. who went to bed last. I recall also that some boys, and even some girls, after a childish altercation would peel away and start throwing (chucking) stones at each other from perhaps forty yards or more. It seems the mindset is the same it has always been. "I'll do what I have to and damn the consequences."
Now with firearms readily available, instead of knives and machetes, the young men of St. Kitts are settling their differences with lethal force. But the situation in St. Kitts, dire as it is, is not unique. Young men have always fought, and attacked each other, for the flimsiest of reasons, and it is a matter of degree as to the outcome.
From London England to New Zealand to Chicago, to Basseterre young men from about sixteen to thirty years old continue to form gangs for whatever reason, and to "posture" at each other, threaten and fight. I blame Testosterone. The chemical testosterone is what makes a man feel like a man. It is what compels him to take risks and to challenge himself. It stops him retreating. He knows no fear. He is afraid of no one. I am not a scientist, but I believe it is well established that those fifteen years are the most dangerous in a man's life. I believe his testosterone levels are at their highest. No man considers his mortality before he is thirty-five. So, what can be done to ameliorate the situation in St. Kitts?
I have lived in England since the sixties but the emotions that bond me to my birthplace are still in play. I feel the pain and sadness that the loss of these young men, causes week after week, after week. In the long term, it is imperative that every child between the ages of twelve and fifteen, in every school in St. Kitts be given lessons in the management and resolution of conflict, and the ramifications of their actions to themselves, their families, and to St. Kitts.
In the short term, drastic measures are needed. St. Kitts as a society will have to consider the taking of DNA samples from every male in St. Kitts at present, and at birth. DNA re-testing at 18, or on leaving school; DNA from girls at 18. Also every citizen except the Gov. Gen. to carry an ID card with embedded fingerprint. St Kitts may even need checkpoints into and out of villages and areas in towns, with vigorous pro-active patrols by the police, with assistance from the army at night, checking and searching cars and confirming ID's. A search and rescue helicopter with heat and night sensing equipment can be leased from a friendly nation.
I realise these measures may turn my beloved country into something like a police state, so I suggest that if implemented, they are for a limited period, subject to review and re-enactment by parliament. As to the cost of these measures I have no idea; that is a matter for the politicians and their civil servants, but if they save one life, one life saved from senseless and brutal slaughter, they will be worth it.
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