I WATCHED IN horror as two young men left the courts en route to prison and proudly raised their middle fingers to members of the press taking photos of them.
While some might take the young men’s action as a reflection of how they view the media, I (like many others) saw it as a lack of remorse for their alleged actions. This is a horrible trend. We see it when convicted people leave the courts and smile, as they do so, for the cameras.
There is absolutely no reason to be smiling. Firstly, if you are innocent, you would find no joke in being wrongly accused. Secondly, even if guilty, murder is not a comical situation. When I see persons smiling or laughing as they exit the doors of the court, it is my opinion that they have no respect for the life that has gone.
Yes, from biblical times murder and assault have been prevalent. However, in this era we are seeing “boldface” mercenaries and people who gladly and openly take the blame for taking another’s life. “What can be done?” Is the million dollar question.
I often see a few people under the postings of the photos state that we should reinstitute the cat-o’-nine-tails penalty. Any human rights activist would outline the cons of such an element. I do think it is an inhumane act. That said, when someone takes the life of our loved one, the last thing on most minds is the welfare of the alleged killer.
Some people say that prison ought to be a rehabilitative process where persons are to spend the time understanding the errors of their ways and eventually returning to the community a “changed person”.
Others have the perspective of an acquaintance of mine, Mr Y. One day a group was discussing this topic. Mr Y turned and explained the following to me. When a youngster is 18 to 20 years old, he makes for the best ‘soulja’. He is young, impressionable and more likely to feel as though he needs to prove that he is a man.
In addition, as it was outlined to me, “when you get 20 or 30 years in jail at 18, you can still come out as a relatively young man with a considerable life ahead of you – not to mention the street credibility and respect for either taking the blame for ‘de big man’ or for having the guts to kill another.”
Someone stated recently on Twitter that the only way to control the level of crime is to instill fear in those with “criminal minds”. This school of thought also says unless those with criminal minds fear the system and by extension the police, the state of violence will worsen. There are persons who believe that many criminal minds fail to fear the police and in some instances do not respect them. I disagree. The rate at which our policemen process cases and are able to determine who has committed a lot of these heartless acts, has been highly commendable. I also believe that instilling fear will not be the answer. Some of the most dangerous people are those who are afraid.
As columnists, we usually have solutions to the problems we highlight. In this instance, there is no right answer or single solution. As a result, I ask this Sunday’s readers to ask themselves what can each of them do individually and collectively to curb the violence. Together, we can fight and curb this.
Email me your solutions and suggestions for ways to tackle this issue and we shall continue the conversation next week. Happy Sunday!
Toni Thorne is a young entrepreneur and World Economic Forum Global Shaper who loves global youth culture, a great debate and living in paradise. Email: [email protected]
