Petty Barrett
Mrs Chanelle Petty Barrett, Permanent Secretary, Education, Youth, Culture and Sports, has a special message for young people: “You cannot afford to be silent,” she admonished them. “Don’t sit back and wait on others to give you an opportunity to speak. Create the opportunities to lend your voice to the issues.”
Mrs Petty Barrett was at the time delivering the opening address at the National Conference on Youth and Development on Monday, December 9, at La Vue.
The main part of her address was as follows: “I am particularly pleased that this conference has as its focus the empowerment of young people through dialogue, training and advocacy. I believe this is an indication that there is an increased focus on preparing young people to advocate for the changes you wish to see take place in our country. This means that not only will you be discussing among yourselves the issues affecting youth, but you will be trained in how to draw attention to those issues using effective advocacy techniques appropriate for the issue, the target audience and the desired outcome.
“This is a critical component of any effort to empower young people, as it seeks to equip you with the skills you need to speak for yourselves in a way that will make others listen. In this society, as in many others, many persons act as if age is an accomplishment and youth is a sin. Even though I am no longer chronologically in the category of youth, I get tired of the attacks on young people, the constant blame that many persons place on young people for all social ills. The message seems to be that young people need fixing as if somehow if we can fix those young people all our problems will go away. I was therefore happy to find this quote from Mike Males, author of “Framing Youth” which reflects my sentiments:
‘The attack on youth is a national pathology, unwarranted by fact, smokescreen for the failure of adulthood and its leadership to confront larger predicaments.’
“Yes, the reality is – it is easier for people to blame others than to accept their own failings. It is easier to blame you than to accept that we have failed. The sooner we come to the realisation that many of our problems are of own making, the sooner we can actually make some progress in rehabilitating our society. However, we cannot do it without you.
“I encourage you to combine your energy, intellect, imagination and talent, with the tools you will gain at this conference to demand that attention be given to those matters which are important to you and toyour future in this society. Your voice must be constant and your message must be clear. While this conference is an important avenue for speaking out, it cannot be the only avenue. There is a need to hear a non-party political youth viewpoint on the myriad of issues Anguilla faces throughout the year. Whether it is the conduct of business in the House of Assembly, rising unemployment, marina development or any other issue of national significance we need to hear from you consistently. You cannot afford to be silent. Don’t sit back and wait on others to give you an opportunity to speak. Create the opportunities to lend your voice to the issues.
“Not only must you be willing to speak – you must be willing to do. Don’t be content with telling others what needs to be done – you must also be prepared to give your time and effort to effecting change where change is needed. If you are to take over the reins in the future, you have to get on the horse from now. You must help to shape the Anguilla we live in today and the Anguilla that generations to come will be proud to call home.
“With that said, I extend best wishes to all of you from the Ministry of Social Development – and I declare the 2013 National Conference on Youth and Development open.”
