The Ministry of Homeland Security is continuing its efforts to steer young people away from crime through its Youth Intervention and Educational Outreach Programme, where students are encouraged to make positive life choices and build resilience in the face of social challenges.
Students at Aranguez North Secondary School were the latest to benefit from the initiative on Thursday.
Director of the programme and Head of the Policy and Community Support Office, Zaheer Ali, said the initiative is rooted in prevention, helping young people appreciate the value of education while equipping them with tools to navigate difficult circumstances.
“To assist them to be more resilient, to make better choices, and also to ensure that they appreciate and understand how important this opportunity for education is. We recognise we cannot charge, we cannot prosecute our way out of this, and it is important for us to look at preventative measures.”
The students heard first-hand accounts from several people, including Sport Ambassador Dwayne Bravo, who returned to his alma mater to share on the importance of setting positive life goals.
He told TTT News that even a small change in mindset can have a lasting impact.
“We had like maybe close to 50, 60 kids here this morning. If you get five of them that leave here this room, to change their minds, how they think of life and give them a little structure on how they set goals and set targets and try to achieve them. So every speaker had a different message, and I’m sure each and every one of them will take away a particular message.”
Students also heard from inmate Grace Cupid, who shared her personal story and reflected on decisions she now regrets.
“If I had the opportunity to go back, I would never be in prison. When they had say prison, I don’t even know what prison is because I walking the right life, but I didn’t. Now I am in prison trying to do the right thing, and the opportunity that I got to come and share my life story with you is to prevent you from coming into prison. Prison is not nice. Take your time, youths, and grow up.”
Founder of the St James Police Youth Club, Derrick Sharbodie, encouraged the students to focus on their goals and ignore negativity.
“You cannot control what comes out of people’s mouth. You cannot control what people say about you. You cannot control when people say ugly things and it hurt. You cannot control that.”
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday night, Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander continued to praise the initiative, which seeks to address the root causes of crime.
“We realise that crime begins and should end at the home. So what we did, we put together a team, a psychosocial and intervention educational engagement team. The team is designed to treat with vulnerable youths in every community through the community policing aspect.”
The Ministry of Homeland Security said initiatives like these are aimed at empowering young people to make informed decisions, strengthen their resilience, and avoid pathways that could lead to crime and incarceration.