(Editor’s Note: School crime and violence have been major concerns of educators, parents and the Ministry of Education alike. Violence against youth, whether perpetrated by other youth or by adults, is also of grave concern to the Ministry of Health, as it has public health implications. In the second issue of a series on Violence and Youth, “Joining Hands for Health” once again examines this issue, giving special consideration to the developmental consequences for children who are victims of and witnesses to violence).
The world is experiencing an era in which violence is the order of the day. Many persons have become so desensitised to violence that they hardly notice basic human rights infractions.
However, for many others, human rights violations are difficult or impossible to ignore. For such victims, daily existence is marred by discrimination, rape, abuse of various forms, injury, trauma, even death, and more.
Conditions promised in mounting stacks of human rights treaties and legislation “ensuring” peace for all remains beyond their grasps.
Legislation aimed at stopping violence is well- meaning, but, by itself, is often ineffectual. The sad fact is that laws cannot change hearts, where the roots of violence ﾖ injustice and prejudice ﾖ lie.
“Most laws are inadequate for stopping such violence ﾖ unless present cultural and social values change,” states the Human Development Report 1995.
Cultural and social values are usually built on deep-seated traditions, and this makes them difficult to alter.
The good news is that values that enable and perpetuate violence are not impossible to change. Therefore, in addition to passing laws to protect the rights and peace of citizens, countries would more effectively tackle violence by employing strategies that incorporate health education components.
In The Bahamas, a “laid-back” atmosphere combined with a beautiful, natural environment ﾖ “dreamy” Van Gogh sunsets and tranquil, azure seas ﾖ all belie seething undercurrents of violence.
As in other places, here too, violence has its cancerous roots in culture and tradition. Even language has not been spared the signs of violence.
How often do we hear parents shouting: “Stupid,” “Black,” “Dumb,” “I’ll half kill you,” etc. Moreover, how many of us believe that bullying; fights and intimidation are all a “natural”, acceptable rite of passage for boys and young men. In other words, how often do we find ourselves saying and thinking: “Boys will be boys,” or, “A little roughness will cause him not to be sissy.”
Additionally, for many youth, violence is a part of home life as parents interact abusively.
Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, in a message given on the occasion of World Health Day, said: “For millions of children across the world, violence permeates childhood and adolescence ﾖ whether through abuse and neglect, sexual violence or gang violence. In several countries, such violence is on the rise.”
What is violence?
In an expanded definition that harmonises with the United Nation’s mandates for equality for all, violence is anything that robs one of basic human rights and freedoms.
Violence is any stressful experience that requires psychological adaptation and may give rise to psychological consequences.
Violence always leaves scars, but many of them are hard to detect on the surface. Children and adolescents need not be physically altered to suffer enduring damage. Often these children struggle alone ﾖ with family members dismissing psychological symptoms as “normal, growing pains.”
This attitude, among others, sabotages caregivers’ ability to render needed help and assistance. It makes them ignorant of what really is happening to their children.
Traditionally, violence has been seen only in terms of direct victimization and single, vivid events. More recently, however, arguments have been made that violence can take indirect forms, as well.
In other words, witnessing violence, for example, through graphic television programmes, can also be traumatic.
Additionally, perceiving or actually experiencing general, community violence also has cumulative psychological impact.
Violence wears several insidious faces: Community violence, domestic violence, verbal abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and physical injury to self or property, among others.
Community Violence has also been called “Street Violence”.
This form of violence is ongoing as opposed to isolated incidents. It occurs in public rather than in the home (for example, child or spouse abuse).
It involves either being the direct victim or witnessing and hearing of violence against others.
Recurring nonsexual violence in the community during the high school years is associated with four types of psychological trauma symptoms ﾖ anger, anxiety, depression and dissociation ﾖ in late adolescence.
Research examining the relationship between exposure to community violence and post-traumatic psychological symptoms among young people report a positive correlation between the degree of exposure to community violence and levels of psychological distress.
Further, because of developmental changes that occur in adolescents’ psychology, they may suffer greater consequences of being exposed to community violence as compared with younger children.
Domestic violence, like community violence, is actually a class of violence that includes various types of abuse. Any violence in the home or among family members may be termed as such.
Unfortunately, many of the nation’s youth are experiencing threats of violence, actual violence or bad arguments that leave them feeling unsafe and vulnerable in their own homes.
Verbal abuse includes insults, constant criticism, humiliating or degrading remarks, shouting, etc. Admittedly, our culture condones and even encourages such actions.
Unfortunately, it is often younger residents who are most at risk for this type of abuse, and often by their own parents. However, teachers and care providers may also be guilty.
Psychological abuse involves emotional blackmail, threats, contempt, indifference and neglect. This, perhaps even more so than physical abuse, robs youth of peace of mind, security, confidence and esteem.
Unfortunately, in “machismo” societies such as ours, such actions are usually viewed as “manly” and virile, and are thus encouraged.
Sexual harassment, groping, rape, unwanted “chatting up”, incest and rape are all forms of sexual abuse.
Sexual harassment also includes: Pinching, grabbing, or patting on or near the breasts, hips, or crotch; unwanted staring and gestures that are sexually explicit; unwanted comments about a person’s body, unwanted requests or demands for sex; showing a person sexual pictures they do not wish to see; and calling a person sexual names like: “Sweet boy”, “Baby”, and “Darling”.
More often than not, the perpetrators of these crimes are men and older boys, and usually target girls and younger boys. The true picture of this is especially not known, as it is drastically under- reported, and oftentimes not even viewed as criminal.
Why is violence increasing?
In The Bahamas, we have traditionally had strong, extended families, with grandmothers often acting as matriarchs.
Especially in the close- knit communities of Family Islands and older neighbourhoods of New Providence, has strong, extended families been felt.
However, as families are broken up, the burden of caring for children often rests more heavily on the single mother, who works longer hours and may well be the only provider.
This creates situations in which children are in effect neglected and often times reared by television and the “streets”.
All of these, combined with other factors, strain the social fabric to the breaking point and fosters an environment that is fertile for violence to grow and flourish.
All of us have been reading and watching the headlines of violence in our nation’s schools.
As news media detail the seemingly increasing acts perpetrated by students against teachers, especially in the Government public schools in New Providence, the Ministry of Education, along with law enforcement and social agencies have scrambled to respond to the public outcry at these acts.
However, this relatively small number of teacher/student altercations is only the tip of the iceberg of violence.
Additionally, school violence is a barometer for conditions occurring in the society, at large.
The sad fact is that societal violence spills over into the schools.
Therefore, strategies to address school and youth violence must, by necessity, also address violence in the general community.
Societal factors that enable violence include the increasing availability of weapons.
Many youth in crime-ridden communities, while not desiring to become involved in criminal activity, may carry a weapon for protection from robberies and/or gang fights.
Research indicates that “inner-city” children may experience more exposure to violence than those in “suburbs”.
Such youth are more likely to see someone being “beaten-up”, shot and/or killed.
There is also the problem of gangs. Gangs are loosely organized around and within residential, community boundaries. Battles over “turf” are numerous.
The schools that such gangs share in common would naturally not be “neutral ” territory, and the feuding would not stop at the schools’ gates.
During the school years, children develop the social and academic skills necessary to function as adults and citizens.
When children’s energies are drained because they are defending themselves against outside dangers, they have added difficulty acquiring these necessary skills.
Additionally, they often have difficulty concentrating and learning. Children traumatized by violence can have distorted memories, and their cognitive functions can also be compromised.
Children who have been victimized by, or who have witnessed violence may have trouble learning important social skills, and therefore, may have difficulty getting along with others.
Often, anger that is felt by such children may be incorporated into their personality. Carrying the extra load of anger makes it difficult for them to control their behaviour and increases their risk of resorting to violence themselves.
Children learn social skills by identifying with adults in their lives.
In abusive households, in which even the adults operate and function in violent manners, it is almost impossible for the children to learn non-aggressive ways of interacting with others.
This problem is further exacerbated when they are bombarded by violent imagery through the media.
To control their fears, children who live with violence may repress feelings. This defensive manoeuvre exacts a high toll in their immediate lives and can lead to further mental illness.
It can interfere with their ability to relate to others in meaningful ways and thus feel empathy. This, in turn, may make them less likely to curb their own aggression, and more likely to become insensitive to brutality, in general.
Knowing how some youth become emotionally bankrupt in this way helps us to understand why they are so careless with their own lives and the lives of others.
Strategies and programmes implemented by the Government of The Bahamas, and as discussed in the first article of this series, include, among others: Specific programmes conducted at the Adolescent health Centre; Counselling Services throughout the school system that involves highly qualified cadre of guidance counsellors, social workers and psychologists; the Family Life Programme incorporated in all Public School Curricula; the “Green Ribbon Campaign” that seeks to directly address bullying and other forms of violence in schools; and the sports and other after-school programmes available to young residents.
Additionally, the increasing number of parks in many communities also affords wholesome and oftentimes, supervised activity and play.
The Ministry of Health applauds the efforts of all individuals, families, non-governmental organizations and communities who are at the forefront of fighting violence in our society. By continuing such efforts, we will safeguard our children.
(As an entire nation, we need to break the silence that surrounds violence, and advance dialogue and understanding of what can be done to reach those youth affected.
By applying innovative and comprehensive measures and interventions; by training parents, teachers and health care providers to recognise the signs of trauma and depression; by helping families to support, instead of stigmatising and discriminating against loved ones; by breaking down stigma surrounding mental disorders; and by openly discussing the full costs of violence to our young residents and the country as a whole, then we can eradicate violence.
Everyone plays an integral part.
(For more information on ways to help combat violence and/or help for children and adolescents suffering from psychological symptoms related to violent experiences, you may call the Adolescent Health Centre, Ministry of Health, or the Ministry of Health’s Information Helpline at 326-2254.
“Joining Hands For Health” is presented each week by the Health Education Division, as a public service of the Ministry of Health and The Nassau Guardian).
Editorial, The Nassau Guardian
