CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – LEADER of the Opposition on Nevis, the Hon. Vance Amory said that adults in society must be positive role models for the youths.
Amory, who was speaking at the launch of the Empire Sports Club’s Boys Together for Change programme on Sunday (May 24) at Hanley’s Road, said grownups should not only tell the younger ones what to do but must also show them what to do.
“We must set good examples. We must show and not just tell…always ensuring that whatever we do would be in the best interest of the new direction in which we want the youths to go.”
The programme, a brainchild of the Club President Eric Evelyn, seeks to bring secondary school boys together “in a structured way and teach them about issues that will directly affect them as youths”.
According to Amory, because of the very challenging nature of the task of pointing the youths in the right direction, adults have to double their efforts and commitment to this initiative.
“We must therefore be more focused and resolute to make it succeed.”
He said challenges would become more difficult as the boys get older and, therefore, they have to be inspired to develop strength of character. “We need to teach them how to build character if we are to have a positive turn around.”
Amory believes that the task is not insurmountable, and given the fact that this is a Christian country “we just need to teach them the traditions which have made our communities what they are. We allow them to learn other things instead of teaching them the principles by which our communities have prospered”.
Amory, who is the leader of the Concerned Citizen’s Movement (CCM), pledged a financial contribution towards the initiative on behalf of the party.
Also promising a financial contribution was Leader of the Opposition in the Federal Parliament, the Hon. Mark Brantley, who said he would match any amount donated by Amory since the initiative requires finance to make it successful.
Brantley urged the youths gathered at the Charles Walters Community Centre to take advantage of the initiative. He advised them to be examples for their peers there and in other communities on Nevis.
The Opposition Leader said he would like to see Empire’s programme become a contagion, whereby “it starts here at Hanley’s Road and circulate upwards”.
Also speaking on Sunday was head of the Nevis Community Anti-Crime Initiative Stephen Walwyn, who urged the youths to stay away from the five Gs - guns, girls, gangs, ganja and Guinness - which he said lead to an early grave. Instead, he proposed that they focus on God, guide, guard, games and graduation.
According to Walwyn, they should observe God’s principles of love, healing, reconciliation and forgiveness; have a mentor to guide them; guard their souls with discipline and self-control; channel their energies in a constructive way through games; and stay in school to ensure they graduate.
He said, “Education gives you options without which you cannot possibly manoeuvre and engineer your life as you should.”
Head of the Nevis Division of the Royal St. Kitts and Nevis Police Force, Superintendent Samuel Seabrookes urged the boys to remain disciplined, since that would ensure they would not have to appear before him.
The Nevis Anti-Crime Initiative, the police, the Ministry and Department of Social Development, the church and the health sector are among the partners of the programme.
