Juvenile delinquency in the Virgin Islands is a social, cultural and economic devourer — a ravenous beast. If it is allowed to grow as swiftly as it is growing at present, it will destroy the fabric of VI society. However, juvenile delinquency can be defeated through intervention early in the lives of children in danger. It can be further managed with corrective education during the teenage years. Education is key to defeating the juvenile delinquency octopus.
This is the first of three commentaries on the subject. It begins with a preamble assessing the locale of the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.
This writer recently completed months of research on the crisis of juvenile delinquency in the VI. He did this at HLSCC, a wonderful institution sited at a very pleasant location. The college sits on luxuriant flat lands surrounded by rolling hills. The hills are mostly empty of the homes or construction sites that dot most of Tortola.
The national facility for learning is situated at the centre of a large government farming project. Grazing cattle, ambling herds of goats, and the odd horse and donkey are a pleasant reminder of the rustic aspect of these islands.
Often, shrieking pigs and bellowing cattle tell of a final fate at the abattoir seated on the eastern end of the site. The college, which further holds a marine school and technical centre, squats close to a pristine sea channel and a naturally landscaped coastline.
Ironically, the HLSCC campus also is situated on either side of the most dangerous piece of road in the VI. The road is part of a main artery linking the centre of the island to the east. The college has two major entrances on this road, from which students and staff enter and exit the facility.
On weekends, wannabe drag racers turn the road into a veritable racetrack. Seven days a week, regular motorists, instead of slowing down when approaching the school zone, accelerate, creating lethal chaos. Why the temptation to speed in front of a college of all places? Only heaven can tell. There are near misses daily, and crashes are common.
Tragically, there have been two deaths as a result of this dangerous dynamic: one, a student struck by a speeding vehicle; the other, a motorist burned alive after a collision. Traffic calming measures in front of the college are urgently needed before another life is taken.
Enough said: back to the juvenile delinquency project.
The end result of this research into the crisis in juvenile delinquency in the VI was an 80-page report. The research, which included a survey of key stakeholders and assessments of various methods and models for fighting juvenile delinquency, was an eye opener. The conclusion reached was this one: Despite the growing and alarming rate of juvenile delinquency in the VI, it is a mammoth that can be slain. There is hope.
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