The National Youth Policy came about, in part, because of “a rapidly developing bashment culture which saw Barbadian youths imitating alien and socially undesirable practices”.
Introducing the policy in to the House of Assembly yesterday, Minister of Family, Youth, Sports and Culture Stephen Lashley said that even before the present Government had taken office, the Democratic Labour Party had noted in its manifesto the rise of a bashment culture that saw youths emulating mores borrowed from alien cultures and fostering a value system based on what was convenient and pleasurable but socially undesirable.
Noting that it was clear, upon taking office, that the country needed to return to the traditions which had made Barbados the envy of the Caribbean, Lashley said the current policy was therefore the fulfillment of a solemn pledge made to the youth of Barbados.
He emphasized that vital steps had been required to empower Barbadian youths, and that such empowerment could never be realized by “quick-fix, pie-in-the-sky” prescriptions.
The only path to true youth empowerment, he added, was via consultation, mobilization of the youth and consistent programmes. (RJ)
