Prime Minister Perry Christie.
By SANCHESKA DORSETT
Tribune Staff Reporter
sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie said last night the country must come together, unselfishly, and answer the critical question: “What are we going to do to save our young boys?”
While speaking at the University of The Bahamas’ President’s Lecture Series, Prime Minister Christie said there is direct correlation between unemployment, a lack of education and violent crime in The Bahamas.
Mr Christie’s comments came three days after two teenage boys, ages 13 and 15, were shot and killed while walking home and two days after a construction worker was gunned down on the job. The country’s murder count now stands at 37 for the first three months of the year, according to The Tribune’s records.
He said everyone must come together to save the reputation and integrity of The Bahamas.
“We have to address this issue about what we are going to do to save our young men? What are we going to do to save our young boys? It is a critical question that we all have to answer,” Mr Christie said.
“We must all advance this discussion on crime. Too much of our brain power is preoccupied with taking us not in the direction the country should be going in but in the selfishness of persons who have their own agendas. Crime, violence and unemployment are what we see too often affect young people, this did not just happen overnight. It happened because we did not pay sufficient attention to the development of youth across our nations, in our public policy and in our educational systems.
“We perhaps accepted that youth development in our society would be organic but we know today that it must be done through deliberate policies aimed at youth development.”
Mr Christie said he is “particularly concerned” with the young men in the country and the fast pace in which women are outshining men in education and other aspects of society.
“I am particularly concerned about the issue of young males and the social issues which seem to affect them greatly whether by accidents or by homicide. You ask yourself the question, why do the women continue to outshine them in school and across the economy?
“In this institution (University of The Bahamas) the ratio is as high as three females to one male. This has all sorts of implications and ramifications on the general society and its development. The question must also be asked, is there a link between the educational dysfunction of the young male and the exposure to domestic violence among young women? What has happened to our Caribbean man?”
More than 600 people have been killed since the PLP took office in May 2012, according to The Tribune’s records.
Before the 2012 general election, the PLP posted billboards throughout New Providence - in areas heavily trafficked by tourists and locals - which said there had been more than 490 killings under the five-year Ingraham administration.
The PLP, then in opposition, campaigned that it had the answer to violent crime while the Ingraham administration did not. It promised that if elected it would get crime under control.
Comments
ohdrap4 7 years ago
VOTE THEM OUT!
that will save boys and girls, young and old.
realfreethinker 7 years ago
Good answer.
birdiestrachan 7 years ago
The young man who was not attending school, Some one should have been checking for him. I was under the impression that if children did not go to school, the School sent some one to the home to find out what the problems were.I am very sorry for this family.
jackbnimble 7 years ago
Does anyone remember when the Government used to employ truant officers for the children that were habitually missing from school? I guess gone are those (good ole) days!
Sickened 7 years ago
I never skipped school, but several of my friends who did were brought back to school by the police. So my thinking was, why try to skip school and hang out on the beach if I have to keep looking over my shoulder for officers.
birdiestrachan 7 years ago
Mr or Ms Dorsette how many times are you going to print how many murders under the PLP and the billboard story. ii seems as if it is time for you to gloat and have no sympathy for the lives lost.. do you really believe that Family members of those murdered view their loved ones as Number 36 number 25?
concernedcitizen 7 years ago
Birdie the PLP put up the billboards for all and sundry to see ,even our guest who are our main source of income ,,I would bring it up from now until eternity ,,that and selling the whole country to China
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Perry and his bunch of sissy friends, cronies and perverts have to stop bongying the little boys and the vulnerable young men in the ghetto ................. that will be a good place to start
realfreethinker 7 years ago
Mannnn you aint easy.
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Just look at who hangs around the PLP leader's entourage ........ it leaves very little else to say about Perry's preferences for his "friends, family and lovers"
banker 7 years ago
Co-sign. Erryting you say is true.
John 7 years ago
In the USA they call it "The Missing Black Men Syndrome," where over one million black men have gone missing in the last decade. Missing in the sense that black women now out number black men by over one million in the US. These men have been murdered, put in jail or otherwise separated from family and society. But this is not only in the United States but in the Bahamas and The Caribbean. It is not by accident but by design and the time has come for all leaders of Caribbean nations to come together and decide the best way to deal with this problem, to preserve our young men and protect the future generations and the future of this country. The leaders in the Bahamas followed the foreign influence calling our young men, lazy and criminals, and violent and not wanting to work. Yes they help cast them out of society and to the dogs whilst allowing the foreign worker and entrepreneur to come in and replace them. It is time to restore the Bahamian male to his rightful place in this country else the future of the country is doomed.
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Yep .......... Just look at the 2017 voters' list by age category ........ men missing by a large margin in the 25-50 age bracket
Seaman 7 years ago
Sheeprunner.....They looking for $500 dollars, to register and vote...... That's comes out to 27cents a day over 5 years. Country sold for 27cents!!!!!!!
John 7 years ago
But Bahamian men did all the craftsman and skill work on Atlantis and that project did not experience one third the problems Bah Mar is having. Most of the plumbing is having to be redone and lots of safety concerns are having to be corrected. Lot of the cosmetic work is already falling apart. Donald Trump has promised to fix the inner city communities in the US. To spend the much needed money to bring those communities up to par with the rest of the United States. Many have hopes that he will do it. When Bahamian men are employed there is little or no crime. this murder thing is something new to the Bahamas and can be stamped out by educating the young men to stop fighting against each other. people perish for the lack of knowledge.
concernedcitizen 7 years ago
A fifty year study by the university of Texas of a 120,000 kids shows that kids that are beaten and whupped when they are young are much more likely to resort to violence to solve problems as teenagers and young adults .We have horrible parenting skills and wack the snot out of our kids when we are frustrated , teaching them violence is a solution ,under the guise of spare the rod spoil the child ..I prefer empirical evidence to fairy tales and folklore .
concernedcitizen 7 years ago
Bahamians are good craftsmen ,but you just make up shit ,,I was there during Atlantis and worked the w/ marble guys ,,there were many American and Canadian skills guys on that job site ,,
John 7 years ago
And who did all the sculptured rock work and pools and the masonry finishes on the building..? Tell me what part I made up ..because your credibility is incredible. And Bahamians were also involved with the tiling marble included, so why you trying to t'ief our props? Can you give the link to the study about whipping children. I bet you can't.
Cobalt 7 years ago
Inaugural Presidential Lecture??????????
University of the Bahamas?????????????
LMAO LMAO LMAO!!! First of all..... Perry Christie is not a President. The Bahamas is a Commonwealth country which means that we have a Prime Minister. Second of all.... COB is not a University. In order to be considered a University, that institution must be engaged in credible research accessible and available for critique by an academic board of regents. A University presents postulates based upon their research towards a board of global academic professionals before it is considered scientific, or artistic fact. That's why Colleges issue diplomas as either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science.
Bahamians have a habit of attempting to mimic certain types of jargon used by first world country such as the United States, and have no idea as to the etiquette that is entailed.
This country cant even extinguish a dump fire yet they're talking about University??????
LOL LOL LOL
Required 7 years ago
For someone as smart as you not to realise that it's called presidential lecture because the institution's president sponsors it, and not because the speaker is a president, is a tad embarrassing. And as for the research done at the institution, you are clearly clueless. (But don't worry, so are UB's president, the Minister of Education, and many others whose job it should be to know these things.)
Cobalt 7 years ago
Thank so for reminding me!!
That so-called "president" of COB shouldn't be considered a president either! He was caught plagiarizing if my memory serves me correctly. Plagiarism is an infraction that directly conflicts with anything associated with higher learning....... but then again, so does COB.
And since you know so much...... please present me with any published, documented, accredited, scientific research that COB has conducted, and the academic body that it was presented to.
alfalfa 7 years ago
It is funny that they did not say the country needs to unite in their 2012 campaign. They highlighted the number of murders under the FNM government all over town in huge banners. They told us all they had the answer to crime and unemployment, and promised us solutions within 100 days of being elected. They failed miserably in all of their campaign platform promises and now with election looming again he has changed his tune. Now we must unite to solve this problem. Bull Sh-t. We need to unite and kick them out. Maybe a new government will not have all the solutions, but they can't be worse than the last five years of anarchy.
John 7 years ago
Boy this "let us unite and save our young boys", must really have hit some raw nerves. But the truth will set you free. And those responsible for murdering young, black men will be revealed. And they will be exposed in such aa way they will not be able to deny their deeds, and they will be punished. They will be punished swiftly. Justice will prevail.. . The Future Glory of Zion 54 “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. 2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. 4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. 9 “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. 10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. 11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,[a] your foundations with lapis lazuli. 12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. 1
John 7 years ago
3 All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. 14 In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. 15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you. 16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; 17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. Footnotes:
John 7 years ago
They shouted to the Lord and said, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?"
banker 7 years ago
LOL!
OMG 7 years ago
I listened to the Pm last night on ZNS and whilst he makes some valid points I really wonder whether he is in touch with reality. Firstly I know many parents who have their kids educated in the USA and UK who advise them to stay away as there are no prospects here. Secondly by the partys own admission special consideration is given to PLP supporters and this manifests itself in student job placement, government positions and more. We have an education Minister and his upper echelons who implemented a school leaving diploma which is about as much use as a lump of wood to the vast majority of male students interested in a practical career. Finally does the PM know how soul destroying it is for students leaving school, facing the prospect of unemployment unless you are perceived to be of the ruling party, whilst their friends with parents who have political clout get all sorts of offers ?
sealice 7 years ago
No NO Mr. Editor - the Young boys must unite and get rid of Christie and save the country
John 7 years ago
@Cobalt..the fire is symbolic, and you're right they will not be able to put that fire out. And cobalt is the color of the hottest part of the flame..the eternal fire no man can extinguish.Let him who have ears, let him hear
TalRussell 7 years ago
Comrade Jackbnimble, yes, I agree we need to reemploy school truancy officers to keep our children in the classrooms - but only if the truancy officers, shared job responsibilities, also be's to keep our habitual missing House of Assemble (HOA) MP's, from going missing from HOA attendance.
I would hope had a student not showed up for classes over 60 to 102 days, that the school's administration staff would become directly involved with the parent/guardian.
thomas 7 years ago
Finally does the PM know how soul destroying it is for students leaving school, facing the prospect of unemployment unless you are perceived to be of the ruling party, whilst their friends with parents who have political clout get all sorts of offers ?
This is what destroyed our country.
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Boys are destroyed in this country because 1. Too many (over 50%) are abandoned by their biological fathers .......... 2. They are cuddled and spoilt by their biological mothers ....... 3. They are molested and victimized by trusted adults ........... 4. They are caught up in a life of gangsterism & crime due to peer pressure 5. Female teachers cannot relate to the Bahamian male psyche ............. 6. Positive male role models are lacking outside of the home
This is much bigger than Shock Treatment, UR Bands, Boys' Industrial School, or Programme SURE ................. But these institutions can help a few hundred out of many thousands
The community partners must do more to help our boys to cope with abandonment, betrayal, initiative, self-esteem, trust and faith ............ Pindling's chickens are roosting in every Bahamian house.
John 7 years ago
Yes after 400 years of slavery and being whipped, and crossbreeding and families being broken up and scattered, married women being raped by their slave masters and men being forced to perform on unsatisfied white women knowing the end result will be their death and having to eat pigs intestines to survive..we are still alive. What else do you want from us @sheepbummer Behold! our redemption draweth nigh!
sheeprunner12 7 years ago
Stop blaming slavery!!!!!!!! ................... the colonial white man is just as damaged by slavery as the black man ......... the colonial white man has to live in an enclave and be seen as a boogyman everyday when he decides to emerge into the dominant black man's world ........... he is a trapped social animal who is painfully watching his precious white females totally enthralled by free love and passion offered by the black man aka "Dexter"
C2B 7 years ago
Those are some big chips on your shoulders gents. Some words of wisdom worth reading; not mine.
"Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die"
242gyal 7 years ago
What a joke. Saving the reputation and integrity of The Bahamas?? Unless he means its reputation for crooks, corruption and all out chaos at all levels, the reputation of The Bahamas by Bahamians and non-Bahamians is exactly what it deserves. This broken country has gone past the point of no return. Too many no-brain half-humans who don't give a s&$@ about the s$&@hole they live in. Integrity? I'm laughing my a$$ off.
John 7 years ago
"Stop blaming slavery!!!!!!!! ................... the colonial white man is just as damaged by slavery as the black man .." . Maybe he got hernia from his pockets being too loaded with money? Benefits of free slave labor
John 7 years ago
""he is a trapped social animal who is painfully watching his precious white females totally enthralled by free love and passion offered by the black man aka "Dexter"ong"
Is that why Black Bahamian men are being banned from Bay Street and from the beaches? And being falsely accused of rape and being called sexual predators." And many exit surveys show that your young, precious white women do come to the Bahamas and the Caribbean looking for "Dexter"? Now they convinced the government that "Dexter" is a rapist and must not be allowed near your 'precious white women,' much less fulfilling her dreams.. it can cost him his life once again..the more things change...young , white women were always obsessed with the young, black stallions, your 400 years of slavery help create. Toby was the slave, Dexter is the new slave. He is the one that is trapped....and Missy still loves to go to the bahamas..err bar... to play with the horses.
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