Youth forum stirs-up serious surprises

L-R Sandra Catron, Roy Bodden, Mary J Lawrence,
Bo Miller

Thursday,  May 5, 2005

Candidates vying for selection in the upcoming 11 May Election from the same political group sometimes ended up on opposite sides of the fence when they faced some of the Cayman Islands’ younger voters. Some candidates even relinquished their stronghold on issues or patterns of behaviour demonstrated in their campaigns so far.

These facts, and many more, made the four-hour long National Youth Candidates Forum on Saturday 30 April one of the memorable events of the 2005 Election campaign.

The jaws on some members of the third panel literally dropped while the audience applauded when United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate, and Minister of Education, Roy Bodden said: “Not even the Pope has been successful in convincing the Catholic world about abstinence. We need to change this attitude of prudishness and understand that in Canada where condoms are distributed in schools, there is not one teenage pregnancy.”

With that, the Minister of Education stamped his seal of approval on the idea of distributing condoms in schools – in total contradiction to the opinion of his fellow party member Dr. the Hon Frank McField who sat on the second panel of the afternoon and said that condom distribution was radical and “a little cheap.”

On the second panel Mary J Lawrence stood alone when she said “no” to condom distribution. Independent candidates Sandra Catron and Bo Miller on that panel said respectively:

“Children already have a lot of freedom so we must make sure that we are offering them ways to protect themselves,” and “It’s better to protect our children from HIV and AIDS rather than sit and worry about what they are learning through condom distribution.”

Another surprising moment came when Bo Miller responded to the question on 17 to 20 year-olds who are able to get drivers’ licences but not able to obtain insurance for vehicles.

His fellow panellists said that young people ought to prioritise going to University before owning a car, young people are “notorious for accidents,” insurance companies see young people as high risk, and, a change to allow for general insurance at a younger age would require a change in the disposition of insurance companies towards young people. However, Mr Miller began by saying: “It seems strange that at 18 you can vote and you can go to war, but can’t get insurance for a vehicle.” He however ended by lining up with his fellow panellists on the point that young people should be focusing on education.

The question concerning “several youth born and raised in Cayman that bear no nationality” was another one that was significant by the mere fact that it approached the controversial granting of status to some 3000 people and whose children benefited from not having to sever ties from the only friends and families they had known all their lives here on the Islands.

Rolston Anglin from the UDP who was on the first panel told a touching story of having been at school here all his life with his friends and “it wasn’t until graduation from High School that I realised what their immigration status was and that they could not make this home. There is a certain humanity that has to exist.”

Dr McField spared no punches and said, “Let’s see how the critics of the status grants would answer this.”

Independent candidate on the second panel, Ellio Solomon, usually a critic of the grants, softened and said, “These children should be allowed to stay for a time.”

Linford Pierson of the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA), also on the second panel, said, “This is a major problem and a sad situation. When a child has grown up here how can we say go back? Go back to where?” 

Independent candidate John Jefferson Jr. who was on the first panel described it as “a very emotional and draining situation when nobody addresses the status of a child until he or she is a teenager,” and, independent candidate, Bernie Bush, said: “We have to accept the children.” Against this background, when Mario Ebanks of the West Bay Alliance (WBA) stuck to his normal stance and said “If we allow this to happen the future of Caymanians is bleak,” the audience seemed stunned – one interpretation of the silence after his response. However, in a rare moment throughout the campaign Mr Ebanks complimented the UDP government for good sporting facilities. He was responding to a statement that the needs of the youth with respect to entertainment were not being addressed. Though most respondents said that they would focus on sporting and Christian activities, Mr Anglin said, “Building facilities is okay, but it’s going to have to be what will engage the young people.”

Again, a little more surprise was offered up when Education was put under the microscope and found wanting, even by UDP incumbent Dr. Frank McField who said, “There is a weakness that has been ongoing and we are still working at weeding out the weaknesses,” in response to a question relating to students who graduate without being able to solve basic Math problems.

When asked, “Shouldn’t a foreign language be mandatory?” in light of the seemingly borderless world in which we now live, independent candidate, Sandra Catron expressed surprise that this was not actually the case.

Independents Mary J Lawrence and Bo Miller agreed that a second language should be mandatory while Mr Bodden said that language laboratories would be included in the new High Schools.

The question over Cayman’s gang issues was one of the few that was presented to all of the candidates on each panel. The questions brought to light issues related to an education system that was missing vocational training components to take care of those who were falling through the cracks. Moreover not one of the 12 candidates during the entire day denied the problem of gangs existing in Cayman.

Leadership and anti-crime agencies came in for scathing attacks over the issue. “They exist because we have lived in denial and done nothing about the problem for many years,” said Mary J Lawrence. “Police get bigger guns. Gangs get bigger guns. And our police don’t know how to talk to people.”

Ms Catron implied an absence of real concern in leadership when she said: “We need to put individuals in the Legislative Assembly who care about this issue.” And Mr Miller said that crime was a result of failure on everyone’s part.

Back...