Have you enjoyed all the rain recently.?The photo with this editorial shows the road immediately outside where I live in Newlands. It was taken last Sunday morning.

We can welcome the rain as it has been very dry but this wet type of rain isn’t the only type of rain we have been receiving here.

It has been raining robberies – and some violent ones at that. In most of the cases the robber(s) were armed with what appeared to be guns.

I have never had a gun pointed at me, thankfully, and it must be frightening. It must be an unpleasant image stamped into the victim’s mind that will last forever.

The headlines we in the media publish, and we have to publish the truth, reflect badly on the image of safety the Cayman Islands have had for years.

That some low life cowardly thugs can damage all our lives indirectly with their violent acts makes me angry. Very angry.

Of course these scum can get help from some of our politicians who blame it on the officiating government policies that have forced these pieces of garbage to walk the streets, buy guns (instead of food for themselves) and frighten, hurt and steal from hardworking people.

There is absolutely no excuse for their actions. Look at all the starving people in the world. Do all these people execute acts of violence against their neighbours because that is their only course of action?

They don’t.

When children of twelve are now perpetrating these crimes the blame lies with the parents. Not with the government, the social workers, the teachers, and/or the police.

When children from an early age receive no discipline from their parents and are allowed to do what they want we are asking for trouble and we are getting it.

Randy Withers writing on a counselling website writes:

“Many studies have demonstrated that a variety of hereditary and environmental factors show a causal relationship with juvenile delinquency. Personality disorders, physical abuse, substance dependence, and environment are just some of the many different factors that can promote conduct disorder in our nation’s youth. The term “Juvenile Delinquent” is more of a legal term than it is a diagnosis, and those children labeled juvenile delinquents by the courts are usually diagnosed with conduct disorder (Santrock, 2012).

“Poor parenting also has a strong relationship with juvenile delinquency. However, is there one specific style of parenting that tends to prevent (or cause) delinquency? Research suggests that an authoritative parenting style dramatically decreases instances of juvenile delinquency. Conversely, neglectful parenting shows a distinct positive correlation with such behavior.

“I spent a full year at two different Juvenile Detention Centers in Northern Florida, working as both a teacher and a guidance counselor in an embedded educational program for both Level 6 and Level 8 Offenders. Every last student in the facility had been labeled by the courts as a “juvenile delinquent,” and the vast majority had been diagnosed with conduct disorder. A large percentage showed signs of alcohol and drug abuse, roughly one third had been treated for venereal disease, and approximately 15% were at one time victims of sexual abuse, usually by a close family member.

“The majority of incarcerated juveniles were repeat offenders, and the overwhelming majority had no prominent male figure in their lives. In fact, of the 230 students with whom the author worked, only about 15-20 had parents who were married. The rest were either raised by a single parent, or a relative, such as a grandmother or aunt. Most of the boys had never even met their biological father. Others had stepfathers who were abusive, neglectful, or just absent.

“One does not need to perform a great deal of research to conclude that there is an inverse correlation between proper parenting and juvenile delinquency. While it would be incorrect to say with certainty that bad parenting produces bad children, there is nonetheless an obvious relationship between the quality of parenting and the likelihood that the child will engage in delinquent behaviors. While several social factors play a role in juvenile delinquency, research shows that the major contributing factor is indeed the family unit – specifically, parenting, or lack thereof (Mmari, et al. 2010). Steinberg (2000) doubts “that there is an influence on the development of antisocial behavior among young people that is stronger than that of the family” (33). He notes, as an example, that children who are physically abused by their parents are far more likely to abuse others, and to expect abuse from others. But what are the characteristics of good parenting, and why does it lessen the chances of juvenile delinquency. Before we address this issue, we must first understand juvenile delinquency.”

To read the whole article go to: http://blog.counselinginsite.com/blog/can-bad-parenting-turn-a-child-into-a-delinquent-short-answer-yes

I was recently at the Graduation of the Positive Intervention Now programme run by St George’s Anglican Church, and one of the speaker’s there, a head teacher, said the same thing but even more forcibly. She said all the schools have many after-school programmes and it is the parent’s job to encourage and get their child enrolled into them. She said there are more parents that don’t bother to do this than the ones that have the real interest of their children at heart. When the teachers hands are tied with discipline restraints it is the parents job to execute this. They don’t because most are out to work and a helper has done most of the work from an early age in bringing their child up.

“Perhaps it comes as no surprise that authoritative parenting promotes well adjusted youth. It should also be obvious that neglectful parents tend to produce conduct disorders in their children, which in turn produces juvenile delinquents. The overwhelming amount of research and data demonstrates conclusively that there is such a thing as proper and improper parenting.” – Randy Withers.

Until parents take responsibility there is no use blaming anyone else. It will continue raining. Raining our islands with more violent robbers.