A most troubling report was presented about conditions in one of our Georgetown inner city schools. From anecdotal evidence, those conditions are replicated in most of the other schools in those areas and if for no other reasons, the findings of the report “Youth gangs and violence” should be widely disseminated.

As the report noted, “Access to guns and other offensive weapons, high suspension rates, high levels of aggressive and disrespectful behaviours that required the attention of the police were among the key findings of the study conducted by the (investigating institution) during the period 2007 to 2011.”

Apart from the dysfunctional behaviour, two other facts jumped out. First, there was the drop-out rate. Out of 254 students that entered the first form, five year later only 81 (with just 27 boys) were still in school. More than two-thirds had decided that school was not for them. In the inner city, with no particular formal education, we don’t have to be social workers to figure out what will be the fate of these youths.

The other fact was that only 48 per cent of all students lived with a mother and father. Cause and effect?

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