January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Loss of 'normal' childhood the cause of retreat into 'neverland'
I have been strangely saddened recently with the death of Mr. Michael Jackson. Seems strange to even write that: 'Mr.' Michael Jackson. Let me be clear that I do not mourn the loss of this talented gift from God like many others. My grief stems from the fact that this man never experienced a true childhood, and therefore in his adulthood he lived to be a child forever. Hence, having never had a normal life as a child, Michael Jackson created "Neverland", a place where he never had to grow up. This was his place of escape - escape from the reality of a cruel adult world.
What is it that I need to make plain in this column this week? Here it is. When our children do not have the gift of a normal childhood, they will inevitably seek to satisfy their need for love, companionship, and a sense of belonging by any means necessary.
Hence, our children, our teens, and even our adults enter into a life that the generations of old would never have even considered. They enter into their own personal 'neverland'. Why? They feel safe in their 'neverland'. They feel loved in their 'neverland'. They feel valued in their "neverland".
It does not matter to our gangs that what they are doing is immoral and illegal. Why not? It is because they already feel cheated and uncared for. That is why they readily rely on the blame-game to justify their current criminal status.
Personally, I am sure that if I were to sit down with a number of our gang members, I would find them lovely and easy to get along with. Unfortunately, when some of these same persons feel that their 'neverland' world is at risk, they quickly resort to whatever measures in order to protect what they believe is theirs.
Now let us consider what they believe to be theirs. The land is theirs. Do you see how many of them have marked their territory? Indeed many young men have named their territory because they themselves feel somewhat cheated out of a name. How many of these young men feel that they have been fatherless and hence they have been given no name or no land to inherit from their father?
I find it very interesting that without signing a bank document or any legal document, gangs have let us know what 'belongs' to them. This is a crucial sense of self-entitlement. This is really another indicator of how gang members really believe that they have been cheated out of so much in life and now they want 'something' of their own.
Bermuda, what we must understand is that as long as we teach and train our children to believe that they can have whatever they want, when they want it, and however they want it, we will continue to see the proliferation of gangs.
A few said it right in the House. It all goes back to the home and to education. When will our parents place education above the rights of their children to do as they please? When will our parents understand that it is not cute for children to be able to do as they please at home and then continue that behaviour at school?
We all know it. Gangs provide a family feeling. Gangs provide our males and females with a sense of belonging. Gangs provide the presence and example of a dominant male/female figure that all others can look up to.
When we miss it at home, it will be taught on the streets. The lack of training we provide in our homes will be administered on the streets. When home is not a sanctuary, the streets will easily become a haven to those looking for someone to care for them and care about them.
Bermuda is small. Really small. Eventually, we will all get it. We will understand that we are really one house. And be clear about this, it still remains true that a house divided against itself shall fall.
St. Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
Respice finem.
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