Gun violence and gang crime dominate Youth Parliament

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18: Gun violence and gang crime is in the sights of Bermuda’s Youth Parliament as it started its new session yesterday.

Youth Premier Ryan Robinson Perinchief said: “Gang violence is an issue all of us see every day. We see it face to face.

“But, with 35 of us in the Parliament, we’re certain we can come up with something which can provide some help.

“In the long-term, a proper education, a proper job and the right support for young people in bad circumstances, mean we can try and make sure people don’t join gangs in the first place.

“If you solve the problems early enough, you won’t see the terrible results later.”

Ryan, 15, a pupil at the Berkeley Institute and from Pembroke, was speaking just before delivering the Youth Parliament’s equivalent of the Throne Speech.

He said that the Youth Parliament had debated the reintroduction of the death penalty against a background of gun murders — but voted against it.

But Ryan added: “However, after an enquiry conducted on our Facebook page, there was a clear majority of people voting in support of the death penalty. In the eyes of this Youth Parliament, this shows the blatant lack of satisfaction with the judicial consequences currently in effect.”

He said that education, transport problems, drug use, and health would also all be major topics in the coming session.

Ryan added: “These are all things which are affecting young people and things that we think solutions can be found for.”

His speech said that the Parliament would also examine an increase in sexual activity among teens and a rise in sexually transmitted diseases.

He said that Youth Ministers have also been appointed, and that the Parliament would look at why it appeared that some pupils had passed through school grades when they had not satisfactorily completed the course.

Ryan added: “That’s something we definitely need to look into.”

He said that public transportation on the island “wasn’t satisfactory”, with bus routes being axed as a cost-cutting measure and mechanical problems with buses.

Ryan said: “We need a good transport system — it affects people at school because they need to get to and from school, but it’s an issue that affects everyone who doesn’t have a vehicle.”