Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 11, 2017 (SKNIS): In an effort to help combat crime in St. Kitts and Nevis, especially among young people, a powerful social skills campaign was launched at the Advanced Vocational Education Centre (AVEC) on Wednesday, 11 January.
The project is designed to engage strategies to help individuals, families and communities, in the Federation to avoid a number of issues, including but not limited to, disrespectful confrontations; crime, violence and revenge; and impulsive quick reactions.
Dr. Neals Chitan, International Social Skills Consultant and Crime Reduction Specialist, expounded on the project, noting that it is a continuation of the Enforcement Diagnostic Education Rehabilitation (EDER), which consist of a Four-Dimensional approach to crime fighting and which was introduced in St. Kitts and Nevis in June 2016 during a series of official crime reduction consultations.
“This is the ‘E’ – the educational part of it. For those who were here [in June 2016], would realize that it is a different kind of education,” said Dr. Chitan. “It is a heart gripping and attention grabbing session that gets right to the root of the problem. The concept, ‘Always Stop and Think before You Proceed’ is simple yet very powerful. A lot of times people think it is for poor people in poor neighbourhoods [but] today we showed on the screen that there were filthy rich and high ranking people that made bad decisions and had to end up with regrets.”
He said that it was important to engage with the students and lead them through the ‘Stop and Think’ concept which painted a clear picture of what will occur if they act before they think. He added that acting before you think can result in individuals losing a great deal including their lives.
“And we hope that as you do that [Stop and Think] across St. Kitts and Nevis it would be a way of helping people that are at risk with behavioral issues and criminal propensity to realize I don’t have to go there, I could pre-think my decision and make a better decision,” he said.
Dr. Chitan said that he found the students at AVEC to be very receptive and engaging and encouraged them to Stop and Think before they procced as it would prove very beneficial to them in the future. Dr. Chitan will be in the Federation for three months where he will be making similar presentations in every high school and some of the major elementary schools in St. Kitts and Nevis.
