The MP’s appeal follows an incident at a secondary school in his constituency. Reports allege armed masked men entered the school’s compound in search of a male student. Hilaire says the community needs to engage at-risk youth in these instances before crimes are committed and law enforcement gets involved.

“I think as a community we need to step in to deal with some of those issues. I think I have a critical role in that regard. These are not interventions you put out in the news, or you broadcast. We need a soft approach; we need to quietly step in. We need to get elders to step in, as well as other persons of leadership,” the MP explained.

Hilaire says community intervention is needed as delinquency can evolve into crimes. At which point, he adds, law enforcement gets involved. “They can easily get out of hand. We then need hard power, which is the police and that involves sending people to jail. Before that, there’s still space for soft power and for us to step in. We need to have these conversations as community leaders.” 

Prior to this incident, Education Minister Shawn Edward stated the Ministry’s position on youth delinquency and gang involvement in schools. He said the Ministry is ensuring students are taught the social skills and values necessary for integration into wider society. Edward says schools should not only be about the impartation of knowledge but the transference of norms.

“It has to be a multi-pronged approach. It just can’t be looking at gangs and gang violence in isolation. I continue to make the point that the behaviours in the wider society will invariably infiltrate the school system.” the Minister said.

He added that adults need to set good examples for the children in their lives. “I believe in the power of example and if we as a society, as adults, exhibit certain behavioural traits, children as onlookers will replicate. 

The recent increase in gang-related activity on-island has forced policymakers to pause and re-evaluate crime-fighting strategies. At present, the government has initiated after-school and other programmes to engage students more constructively. Without a post mortem on these initiatives, however, their success is yet to be seen.