TCI Social Services has a plan to shield Youth from Crime lifestyle, coming in the New School Year

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, July 17, 2023 – Troublesome alliances are forming even in schools, that’s the concerning revelation from the Departments of Social Services and Rehabilitation and Community Services. They now say they are working on a pilot program to disrupt the seemingly steady march of some of our young people into a life of crime.

For several weeks Magnetic Media has been trying to find out more about how residents can protect youngsters from not only recruitment into gangs but descending into a life of crime. We reached out to the Department querying the seeming lack of any sustained programs to educate the population in this regard; while we did not get much on that issue, they did provide some valuable insight into the atmosphere in the TCI that they say is fueled by an undercurrent of petty alliances between our young men.

“There are many factors connected to children with behavioral issues and negative peer relations are one of them. While there are many definitions of gangs, in this context, I am specifically referring to a group of students who spend time together, often fighting with other groups and behaving badly,” Jaron Harvey​, Director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Community Services told us.

While stressing that he couldn’t speak on behalf of the schools or Department of Education, Harvey explained that the continued violence in certain communities spills over, affecting students and their behavior everywhere they are.

“In the context of the TCI, there are many communities that seem to be the epicentre of crime. Consequently, many students that reside in these communities tend to spend a considerable amount of time together where loyalty and allegiance are prioritised.”

In the last 12 months there have been several incidents of mass fights between both boys and girls after sporting events and the like where children are seen viciously clawing, kicking, and even in one particularly extreme case, stabbing each other.

The Department was swift to stress that these very public violence confrontations were not necessarily gang related.  Similarly, the US National Institute of Justice NIJ warns against conflating the issues of gang activity to be larger than they seem, but it also advises that young men are the most vulnerable to slipping into a life of crime and says keeping them healthy and involved in their community is an excellent way to ward off the lure of criminal activity.

The TCI office says it is working to shield these young people from inheriting the trend of violence that affects their communities.

“We understand the importance of addressing the many factors contributing to delinquent behaviour, and this is why we are working feverishly to introduce a pilot program in the upcoming school year. This program will target these students and their families while simultaneously addressing their behavioural issues.”