By: Paul Sarran
June 10, 2025
The rise in school violence across Trinidad and Tobago is a symptom of a much deeper issue, a long-standing disconnect between policymaking and grassroots realities. While I commend Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Government for taking a firm stance against violent behaviour in schools, I believe we have once again arrived at a place of crisis response rather than proactive prevention.
As a social activist and upcoming political scientist, I have consistently called on those in power to take decisive, preventive steps before situations like the brutal attack at South East Port of Spain Secondary School ever occurred. Specifically, I have for years been urging the former Minister of Youth Development and National Service, and Member of Parliament during the last administration, to seriously consider re-opening the defunct youth camps that once served as crucial pillars in the nation’s development framework for young people. Regrettably, these appeals fell on deaf ears.
The decision to ignore such a practical, community-driven solution was not just an oversight, it was a missed opportunity to prevent the very tragedies that are now making headlines. Youth camps once served as a structured, disciplined, and empowering environment for many young citizens. They combined vocational training, civic education, and character development in a way that schools and home environments sometimes could not. For many at-risk youth, these camps were a second chance that steered them away from violence, delinquency, and criminality.
Had the camps been re-established, I am convinced that the current spike in school violence would have been significantly reduced. The truth is, most students involved in violent incidents are not inherently criminal or evil; they are often young people navigating trauma, poverty, neglect, or the lack of positive role models. The youth camps offered them a lifeline, and their removal created a vacuum that is now being filled with aggression, frustration, and in some cases, gang influence.
What we are seeing today is not just a failure of the education system—it is a failure of imagination and of political will. The current government is right to speak of expulsion and prosecution as necessary responses to violent acts, but we cannot arrest our way out of a youth crisis. Expulsion without rehabilitation may merely transfer the problem from the school compound to the streets, where it becomes far more dangerous and difficult to contain.
Minister Wayne Sturge made a valid point when he acknowledged that simply removing a violent child from school without a proper support system could potentially funnel them straight into gang activity. But this is precisely where the youth camps could have made a difference. They could have functioned as alternative spaces—centres of reform, learning, and mentorship where those expelled for violent behaviour could be redirected, not abandoned.
It is not enough to introduce punitive measures. We must also have mechanisms of reform. The answer lies not in choosing between discipline and empathy but in combining both. Youth camps, if properly structured and professionally managed, can serve this dual role. They offer the discipline that some youths lack, as well as the support and guidance that many desperately need.
I therefore encourage the current administration to seriously consider integrating the re-establishment of youth camps into its broader crime prevention and education reform agenda. The grassroots have long understood that youth engagement is not a luxury; it is a necessity. The streets, the communities, and even the schoolyards have been sending that message for years. What we need now is the political courage to listen.
I am hopeful that with new leadership and a new vision, our government can finally bridge the divide between reactive policy and proactive governance. Expulsions and arrests might remove the immediate threat from a school, but they do not address the root causes. We must aim for holistic solutions. Let the re-opening of youth camps become a defining feature of a comprehensive national strategy, one that not only punishes bad behaviour but nurtures better futures.
As someone committed to the well-being of this nation’s youth and the long-term stability of our society, I stand ready to work with all stakeholders to develop a framework for youth camps that is modern, inclusive, and impactful. Let this be more than a call from the sidelines. Let this be the beginning of a new conversation, one that sees young people not as threats to be expelled, but as lives to be saved.
The article “PM: Expulsion, arrest for school violence” by Sherlan Ramsubhag correctly captures the public urgency surrounding school violence and reflects a commendable commitment from the Government to take meaningful action. But it also underscores the fact that we are arriving too late to the scene. With better foresight, consultation, and community engagement, we might have prevented such incidents from happening in the first place.
Let us not waste any more time. Let us re-open the youth camps. Let us equip our young people not just with rules to obey but with the purpose to pursue. And let us finally put into practice what we have always known, that the best way to stop a crisis is to never let it start.
(The author Paul Sarran is a Political Science Student at The University of the West Indies Global Campus in St Augustine.)
Email your opinions, letters and commentaries to: letters@caribmagplus.com