Basil Jarrett | When it’s not OK to follow your elders

I WORRY about today’s young people. Their music – if you can call it that – is painful to listen to; their pants are way too tight; and they are far too soft for today’s Jamaica. And that’s just the boys. Our girls can be equally problematic, but at least they seem to be able to come out of high school a little better off. And yes, I’m quite aware that during our highly revered ‘90s, our parents probably had the same things to say about our music, fashion and lazy attitude to life. I, too, got the ‘I had to walk 12 miles to school, barefoot, up a hill, both ways’ speech during my childhood, but objectively, I think most of us can agree that this generation gives us a lot to be nervous about. For example, just look at what Billboard says was the best hip-hop song of 2023, and who they claim was rap’s biggest breakout star of the year. Go ahead and google it. I’ll wait. And before you ask, yes, you did just listen to a young woman proclaim loudly on stage that the colour of her – insert whatever term you’re comfortable using to describe that particular body part – is brown.

It’s the same reaction I have whenever I get into an argument with anyone who thinks that what passes as dancehall nowadays is good music. Put on any record from dancehall’s golden era, and instinctively your toes tap and your head nods. Try that with today’s chart-toppers and not feel the impulse to call a stranger, tell them they’ve won the lottery and here’s how to collect the cash. But scammer anthems aside, I’m just not a fan of a whole lot of what I see among our young people, and have some strong fears about where this country is heading. But once in a while, ever so often, something happens to give me hope that all is not lost.

SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM

Last December, the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) established a partnership with tip line mavens Crime Stop to create Jamaica’s first dedicated anti-corruption and organised crime tip hotline, 888-MOCA-TIP. The tip line established a method for persons to report fraud, embezzlement, bribery, government kickbacks, procurement breaches and nepotism, as well as organised criminal activity. One area that received significant attention was the social media domain, namely, the big dogs, Instagram and Facebook. IG is the playground of a younger demographic, while Facebook is home to older, more mature persons whose wider attention span actually allows them to process more than 280 characters at a time.

One year later, the tip line has been a success, bringing over 250 tips to MOCA’s attention. Not everything that has come through the tip line has been crime-reporting gold, mind you, as we did get quite a few hits that didn’t truly meet the high threshold of Jamaica’s major organised crime and anti-corruption law-enforcement agency. Those tips we shared with our partners who had those specific mandates, because we still believe that all crimes, no matter the size, should be punished. We believe, though, that this will improve as people become more and more familiar with the agency and our high-priority crimes.

EYE-OPENING STATS

Recently, during our one-year review of the MOCA tip line, some interesting trends were discovered. Since the tip line was established last year, nearly 40 per cent of all reported crimes were related to the deadly lottery scamming industry. The other 60 per cent was split right across the board, ranging from the rapidly growing cyber and cyber-enabled crimes to the ever-present fraud and other financial crimes. But what raised more than a few eyebrows was the fact that the vast majority of tips came in through Instagram – you know, the place where those wayward youngsters hang out.

One possible explanation, and the one I want to believe, is that young people today are less tolerant and more willing to report what they know about crimes and criminal activity than their older counterparts, who still harbour some of the cultural inertia that exists towards whistle-blowing. In other words, younger folks are more likely to ‘talk up di ting’, while their parents and grandparents can be expected to ‘kibba dem mouth’.

DRIVING SOCIETAL CHANGE

This group – millennials I believe they call themselves – may be bucking an important socio-cultural establishment and are saying quite loudly that they won’t be bullied or scared or quietened, and appear to be doing what their elders have been too chicken excrement to do themselves. How else do you explain these numbers? And this is a good thing. After all, not everything that we older heads espouse and hold close to our hearts has been good for Jamaica. Some of our customs and traditions, such as classism, political apathy, collective cowardice and our tolerance for corruption and all sorts of other societal slackness, most certainly need to be thrown in the bin. I’m therefore glad to see what I hope is the future, not just for citizen and law-enforcement partnerships, but for Jamaica in general. Could it be possible that our future belongs to a people who are not afraid to stand up against lawlessness and corrupt officials? How ironic if the ‘Skilibeng generation’ turns out to be our salvation?

ANOTHER POSSIBLE EXPLANATION

The social scientist in me says, however, that another possible explanation is that older persons are equally fed up and are just as willing to tell us about criminals and corrupt public officials – they just don’t want to do so on Facebook. There is some credence to this, as I can certainly attest to being stopped in public on a regular basis by someone who “have suppen fi tell mi”. As the agency’s very public spokesperson, I expect this. But receiving and processing that type of information is not my training nor expertise, and so I happily connect them with the relevant professionals on our team. MOCA’s high level of public confidence and trust certainly helps to reassure these tipsters, but that willingness to come forward seems very much there among this older crowd.

I still want to believe, however, that my first theory about our youngsters being more courageous and less tolerant has some merit. And I have to, right? At a time when our security forces and law-enforcement professionals have the desire, the commitment and the competence to break the back of organised crime, fraud and other acts of criminality and corruption, the missing link may very well be public involvement and participation. Hence my optimism about these youngsters.

And to think that this critical piece is coming from a group of people who have such god-awful taste in music. Oh, the irony.

Major Basil Jarrett is a communications strategist and CEO of Artemis Consulting, a communications consulting firm specialising in crisis communications and reputation management. Follow him on Twitter& Instagram@IamBasilJarrett and linkedin.com/in/basiljarrett.