EMPIRE SPORTS CLUB LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO EMPOWER BOYS By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Hanley’s Road, Nevis) – Marking its 30th anniversary, the Empire Sports Club of Hanley’s Road Gingerland has launched a new initiative to empower boys to become role models in society. The initiative titled ‘Boys Together For Change (BTFC)” was officially launched at the Charles Walters Community Center in Hanley’s Road last Sunday. The program which is an anti gang, gun and crime initiative, also aims at a holistic development of the boys in that community. “It targets boys of High School age and above and has received the blessings of the parents in Hanley’s Road, said Club President Eric Evelyn. “We hope to put boys on the right track before they stray into crime.”Many guest speakers were on hand to deliver remarks at the afternoon ceremony including Stephen Walwyn of the Nevis Anti-Crime Initiative, Nevis Police Superintendant Samuel Seabrookes, opposition members Vance Amory and Mark Brantley, Minister of social Transformation Hensley Daniel and Nevis Premier Joseph Parry among others. Turning away from guns, gangs and ganja was a suggestion to the youths from Walwyn saying the boys should replace those with God, games and graduation by going to church and seeking spiritual guidance, tuning the energies of youth that can be so misspent into sports and most importantly, finishing their education to become truly free of mental slavery. “Education gives you options without which you cannot possibly maneuver and engineer your life as you should,’said Walwyn. Opposition leader of Nevis, the Hon. Vance Amory called on community leaders to become the good role models boys need to become good men and that actions speak louder than words.. “We must set good examples. We must show and not just tell,”Amory said. “We must ensure that whatever we do, would be in the best interest of the new direction in which we want the youths to go.”A lack of instilling traditional values of the past is to blame for the waywardness of today’s boys, the former Premier said, and that diligence, determination and focus are needed by the adults of the community to teach the youths how to build character. Hon. Deputy Premier and Social Minister Hensley Daniel commented on the program, saying it is a much needed intervention that would accomplish far more than trying to deal with youth crime after the fact. “An intervention program is the cheapest program to introduce,”he said. “It is far less expensive than rehabilitation and far less expensive than trying to bolt after the horse is gone.”One of the problems facing boys, is the conception that reading is not cool, the Minister said. This was revealed in a recent study conducted in St. Vincent, Barbados and Jamaica “If a boy likes reading he won’t show it,”he said. “I hope that through this program reading becomes part and parcel of the culture. This program is going to restart that thinking that it is macho to get good marks in school, to be disciplined and to go to church.”Minister Daniel compared the new initiative for boys, with some already in place in the Social Development Ministry. All the social development programs are of utmost importance, he said, because it is from these programs founded on issues such as education, social integration, hard work, discipline and respect that the country will truly develop. Some of the things to be studied by the youths of the program will be drug education, anger management, coping with peer pressure, effective communication and nutrition Meetings for the youths will be held on the second Thursday of every month from 6:30 p.m. for one hour at the Community Centre. If there is a fifth Thursday in the month, the boys will meet for recreational activities. Field trips are also a planned part of the curriculum. The program targets boys of high school age, since evidence shows that they are more vulnerable and prone to deviant behavior than girls, Mr. Evelyn said. He also mentioned that Hanley’s Road is fortunate that the blight of crime and gangs has yet to become as much of a problem as in other parts of the island and nation and that makes it a good place to start the initiative – intervention before – not correcting after. “Hopefully we can create role models here that will be examples for the rest of the island.”
