You are quite right in highlighting how social institutions contribute to the decadence seen in society. Many persons like to go on and on about how bad and unruly the youths of today are, however if young people do not have a sense of self, then we need to understand why this is so. The media and the education system in particular have failed to embrace and put out information that empowers the general population and thus have served to perpetuate the status quo in which the norms, values and beliefs of the ruling elite go unchallenged. Furthermore, youths of today are no less misinformed that the general population, nor are they much different in essence from young people of previous generations. The circumstances in which they exist is very different from previous generations. In the words of Peter Tosh, you can't blame the youth.

Furthermore, the crime statistics of Trinidad and Tobago reveal that it is mostly persons from 'lower' socio-economic backgrounds who are convicted of crimes. However, this is not an accurate picture of the crime situation in this country. No ghetto youth has the connections and the resources to import the amount of guns and drugs that is on the streets. But most importantly, crimes committed by persons from the ghetto are sensationalized, overemphasized and whole communities stigmatized while crimes committed by members of the elite are ignored, not investigated and not subject to prosecution. Even in the rare cases that high profile citizens are tried within the justice system, the process is often much quicker and the stigma of crime is not associated with them even if they are found guilty. It should be clear that the scales of societal justice are not balanced, as persons from financially poor backgrounds have the worse experiences within the judicial system. If the focus is on proper conduct, then any improper conduct, whether it is by a Chief Justice, a wealthy businessman, a government minister or a youth from the ghetto, must be investigated and justice served. How many politicians and other bigwigs are tried or convicted for corruption?

Tyehimba