By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterTHE MOB killing at the University of Technology (UTech) and the anti-social behaviour of some tertiary students, in general, have drawn further scrutiny and condemnation from another section of the society.
Professor Barry Chevannes, Dean of the Social Science Faculty at the University of the West Indies, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis Muhammad, American civil rights activist, have added their voices to the debate on the behaviour of tertiary students.
Professor Chevannes called on communities to do more to nurture proper values in the young, noting that the behaviour of the students involved in the vigilante justice at UTech, which left 23-year-old Ricardo Anglin dead, is reflective of the moral decay in the society, .
The Dean of the Social Sciences Faculty questioned why university students, who should be the most educated students and the next generation of leaders, are perpetuating "acts of barbarism".
Rapping the behaviour of the students he continued, "But, if they in whom society pins its future hope can sentence a man to such a horrible death by drowning in a cesspool for attempted theft, then what is to become of our civilisation? What indeed have we become?"
Professor Chevannes was speaking at the two-day symposium at the Mona School of business which ended on Friday, under the theme 'Transforming values and attitudes: policy challenges for Jamaican society'.
Also speaking at that function, Dr. Chavis Muhammad, called for a deep analysis by sector groups and the educational sector of the "horror" that took place at UTech. He was adamant that instead of being quick to condemn the students, there should be urgency in learning lessons from that mishap.
"Let's resurrect the youths, not beat them down... analyse the UTech situation," Dr. Chavis Muhammad said.
"Let reggae be the engine of growth. Control the economic side of reggae, so it will not be just a reinforcement of your culture but the engine of growth," he said.
