And, that "monster" those gangsters speak about is something that's also on the mind of the Director of the Department of Youth Services. Speaking with us yesterday in front of Dwayne Gaburel's house - Kevin Cadle said that his department is in the process of conducting a "Youth Needs Assessment Survey" across multiple municipalities - and the feedback coming in so far is that kids needs counselling, urgently:
Kevin Cadle, Director, Department of Youth Services
"But we are currently conducting a national youth needs assessment survey and the survey is screening out in terms and the results are alarming. We have done Belize District, we have also done Orange Walk and Dangriga and young people are screaming out and asking for consoling services. They are also saying that they need someone to talk to. This is saying that there is a serious issue lack of socialization taking place as a result of covid. The schools provided that opportunity. But I think what we need to make sure that we do, is to probably look at how can we get young people back in those schools. Because its telling on us and it's a very serious situation. One of the things I think that people are not recognizing and we realize it is that more girls are getting pregnant and more young men are using drugs, but we are not recognizing that they are actually gathering together because of the situation that they are not in school. We are saying at least one day per week you could bring in a group of students, 10 or 15 and have interactions with them. We don't have to say that because covid we cannot have people together. 20-30 young persons at a time, there are big fields in schools and start having social interactions. Get the counselors who are in those schools to start working."
