Increase in students begging, loitering in Sav causes concern

Karrie Williams, Gleaner Writer

WESTMORELAND:

The troubling action of students loitering in town centres after the close of school each day seems to be no longer confined to sections of the Corporate Area.

Much like what has transpired at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew, Savanna-la-Mar has been experiencing an increase in the number of students who remain in the town until late in the evening, begging money on the streets instead of making their way home.

Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar Bertel Moore told Western Focus that he has witnessed such actions on several occasions and this has left him deeply concerned. According to him, the police should intervene in the matter.

"I see them at the gas stations and I talk to them very roughly. I tell them they must go home to their parents," he said. "What we need to do is to have some system where the police get them to go home and get them off the streets," he said.

A male resident of the Westmoreland capital recounted: "Just last week, I went to the drive-through area at Juici Patties, and while I was in line, three girls clad in uniforms walked over and asked me to give them money for bus fare home. Playing devil's advocate, I asked them what I would get in return, one of them looked me straight in the eye and said, 'You have to give to receive, sir'."

Commanding Officer for the Westmoreland Police Division, Superintendent Carol McKenzie, says severe action can be taken against both the juveniles and their parents.

GUARDIANS COULD BE CHARGED

"Begging is an offence. The juvenile can be arrested or placed in state custody for being in need of care and protection and the parents can be put before the courts for failure to exercise proper care and guardianship," the police chief said.

Principal of Godfrey Stewart High in Savanna-la-Mar, Theobold Fearon, told Western Focus that poverty, in many cases, was the main push factor causing children to beg on the streets.

"The harsh reality is that a number of our students, like many other students across Jamaica, do not have the necessary economic support from home," he said. "We know for a fact that some of our students are coming to school hungry."

Some schools in the parish have implemented programmes aimed at assisting needy students. At Godfrey Stewart High, for example, the welfare office has a breakfast programme in place to feed students. Fearon said teachers at the school have also launched a savings club to provide more financial assistance to needy students.

"I know that a number of other teachers also put aside a small monthly budget to assist some of these students and the Government's Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education also assists a number of these needy students," he said.