FOURTEEN YEAR-OLD Shawna Bernard, chose to drop out of high-school, as a way to escape the gossip, scorn and stares of her peers. This intensified her struggle of dealing with an abortion after being seduced, raped and impregnated by an older man. The story is that she became friendly and went out with a 33-year-old man from her neighbourhood, who tricked and took her to a motel on Port Henderson Road in Portmore, St. Catherine, where he raped her. The police became involved and dealt with the matter accordingly.
This is one of the many 'untold stories' involving young girls in the dormitory community of Portmore, where most adults in its 177,000 population work out of the area, leaving their children to the mercies of helpers, the 'good neighbour', an empty home and other 'elements for distraction'.
The police say youth delinquency is on the rise and is pointing to a worrying presence of gang warfare involving young boys, illicit sex among teenagers and dangerous exposure to drug abuse. And, while some parents and community leaders are concerned about the level of teenage pregnancy, the health authorities say the "statistics are not showing an increase". Generally, it is felt there just aren't enough facilities and productive outlets for young people in the fast-developing community.
"There is a lot of youth delinquency -- you find that there are small cells in Greater Portmore, where young people, as young as 12 years old, are becoming involved in gangs," says police Sergeant David White, a Community Relations Officer at the South St. Catherine Police Division. He explains that the web of gangs is being spun by criminals, who have infiltrated the community as well as the schools and influence young people to form gangs.
Sgt. White, a father himself, and who has worked in the Portmore area for several years, is also concerned about the whereabouts of children who have been locked out of school for one reason or another and are left unsupervised. Boys hanging out smoking ganja and students involved in illicit sex are common occurrences he sees on the ground.
"Many times we have to take out young girls and boys involved in illicit sex in the homes -- Hellshire or in the hotels in the area," he says, citing as well, the practice of young girls being lured into sexual relationships with middle-aged men, and the flip side, where boys are acting as 'studs' for older women. "It's not only a case where we have to worry about sugar daddies, now there are sugar mommies as well," he quips.
"Teenage pregnancy seems to be very common in my community. I see so many cases where young girls drop out of school because they become pregnant," comments one Greater Portmore resident, who expresses concern that some girls become pregnant after they graduate from school because they don't have anything to do or have failed to get into another learning institution.
Joyce Johnson, another resident and community leader, has a similar concern and is advocating for more facilities and programmes for youth.
"The schools alone are not enough. Our young people need to be socialised outside of the school setting," notes Ms. Johnson, who is asking for more facilities, the creation of jobs and a more serious look at instituting programmes such as the Girl Guides and Red Cross into schools in the area.
The National Housing Trust (NHT) which is responsible for the development of 25 of the 60 communities in Portmore says facilities for children and youth in schemes include playing fields, community centres, basic and primary and secondary schools. These facilities are usually based on the size of a particular scheme and where there is little or none, residents are expected "to utilise the social infrastructure facilities already existing in the wider community".
Councillor for the Hellshire Division, Leon Thomas says there is a problem with the indifference of the youth to get involved in forums/programmes for their own development. "The interest just isn't there," he observes.
Names changed to protect identity.
