Action! - Youth advocate to launch parental school programme after Raven's murder
Published:Wednesday | October 24, 2018 | 12:00 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
OCHO RIOS, St Ann:
The callous murder of 14-year-old Ocho Rios High School student Raven Wilson in St Ann's Bay last weekend has elicited several condemnations. Hurt by the death of the teen, who she knew and whose mother is her hairdresser, St Ann youth advocate Jelen-Ann Brown is to launch a parental school programme that will seek to get society to show more care and to engage in protecting the nation's children.
"It's really sad to see what is happening to the children of this nation," Brown lamented in an interview with The Gleaner. "We need to do something, hence ... I will be launching my parental school programme to get the community, parents and other stakeholders on board to protect our children.
"I refuse to accept another gruesome and brutal act like this one. My church is aware of the situation, and we are indeed praying for the bereaved family and close friends. We need to fight back against the violence that is being perpetuated against our children."
Brown said the death of 14-year-old Yetanya Francis in Arnett Gardens in August and now Raven, of Top Road, St Ann's Bay, is just too much.
"When people go around and destroy the children the way they do, can we have a better Jamaica?" she questioned.
Brown, who lives in the neighbouring community of Windsor Heights in St Ann's Bay, said that the fact that she knew the teenager and is associated with her mother makes the incident even more heart-rending for her.
She describes the killer as "callous and cold-hearted" and questioned the actions of the attacker.
"How could a person look at a 14-year-old - a daughter, sister, niece, cousin - and take her life then dispose of her body just metres away from her house? What gives him that mindset?"
Brown is appealing to anyone with information about the crime to make a report to the police.
"Building a better Jamaica starts from the community, the Church, the home. We cannot only depend on Government to put strategies in place for us, we have to work together to make Jamaica a safe place for our children."