Express Editorial Jan 31, 2019
Just by the quality of their performance, Team Intellect, the youths of the Prison All-Star Inmate Debate team, delivered a resounding reply to the question posed in Tuesday’s competition, “Are people born criminals, or made by society?’’ While their debating skills were persuasive enough to beat Team UTT by a convincing margin of 990-664 points, the power of their presence provided the evidence to clinch their case that criminals are not born but made.
Were circumstances otherwise, any or all of these young offenders would have been star graduates. Instead, as recounted by debater Kester Benjamin, life’s circumstances conspired to put them behind bars. A child of a single mother employed as a domestic, Benjamin was quickly seduced into crime by bad company. Being caught, convicted and sent to prison may have been the best thing. It was there that he found the attention and care under which his talents and those of his teammates have been flourishing.
These youngsters are lucky to have the guidance and support of empathetic officials such as the late superintendent Wayne Earl Jackson, whose commitment to literacy, education and social programmes to reduce recividism was lauded on the occasion by debate co-ordinator Debbie Jacob. However, no praise would be too much for Ms Jacob and her unwavering dedication and championing of the power of education and self-expression to change lives which has made her a legend among the youth population of the nation’s prison system. Co-ordinating Tuesday’s debate is just the most recent project in her career as a volunteer teacher among juvenile offenders. The Prison Service and all Trinidad and Tobago owe her a debt of gratitude for her care and commitment to youngsters who fall through the cracks and end up behind bars.
The fact that so many youths are so responsive to the educational opportunities offered by the prison system is testimony to the failure of the school system itself. As described in Jacobs’ book Wishing for Wings, many of the young people who get into trouble and end up behind bars are intelligent, creative and compassionate individuals whose life chances were negated by the absence of the early support needed to protect them from the temptation of crime.
Particularly susceptible are boys, like young Benjamin at 12, eager to fit in among the older crowd. In such circumstances, a single mother working for minimum wage and lacking support at home and in the wider community, is often no match for the call of the streets. As Benjamin eventually discovered, when the chips were down, the illusion of the gang family evaporated, leaving only his mother at his side.
For many children, from low to high income families, gangs and cliques fill the void left by broken homes, disintegrated communities and a school system that is unable to reach inside of them, find their passions, turn them on to the joys of learning, hone their skills and help them make sense of their gifts.
While the prison system’s emphasis on reform is to be encouraged and supported, the real solutions lie in early intervention strategies to save our youth from crime.
https://www.trinidadexpress.com/opinion/editorials/congrats-team-intellect/article_3f41db7a-2514-11e9-936a-1b257d5b5218.html
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