It's called "do what you like" - a position taken by an increasing number of disaffected youth worldwide. It's something like a post-modern embrace of youthful rebellion where teenagers are not just rebelling against something, their life is an embodiment of that rebellion. That means society on the whole may have its own rules, but so do they. That counterculture in widespread across Belize - where some youths believe that the formal system has failed them so profoundly that they've turned their back on it and live by their own code. That's what we found this morning at the corner of West and King streets where some youths told us they were tired of being harassed.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
They hang here at the corner of King and West streets but these group of youths say they are the victims of continued harassment, like what happened this morning.
Youth #1,
"We were in this open lot around and the man they came and they just harassed us. We gave them the respect and came out of the yard but they still grabbed the youth in his shirt and disrespected him. The cop hauled out the gun and told the boy he will shoot him in his face. I told him I am a woman and he said he doesn't even care about that. We are tired of this because all they do is harass us. They ran into the yard at King Street and kids are in the yard and we hollered for them to stop and it was guns they had."
Jules Vasquez,
What were they looking for?
Youth #1,
"Nothing, they are just harassing us. We were just sitting down in the yard together. We smoke drugs, we don't sell drugs. We smoke drugs in the yard. We smoke strictly marijuana and the man they don't like to see us like that. They are just harassing us. We give them their respect whenever we see them but they don't respect us."
Respect and disrespect - that's what this battle is about, and as they freely roll marijuana on the corner in clear view of anyone passing on king street at 8 in the morning, for these youths and many others it's no big deal.
Jules Vasquez,
So will roll a joint on the street corner and not expect them to harass you?
Youth #2,
"Its not on the street we are rolling it up."
Youth #3,
"When we see them we give them their respect and thing. We don't sell drugs, we spoke this. This is here to smoke. This herbs. We burn these. We don't sell it."
Jules Vasquez,
Its illegal to smoke drugs.
Youth #1,
"It illegal to have a draw but those man don't harass the bigger heads. They are doing worse than this."
Youth #2,
"You have our drugs on the news. We want everything to show."
Youth #3,
"We just burn this and get our high. Anyway Jules just hold down the camera."
We can hold down the camera, but the police will likely not hold down the harassment for these counterculture kids.
The police had no record of detaining the young man who the youths told us had been picked up.
