Form 1 students at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School were asked to address different issues in Anguilla and steps that should be taken to solve each. Here is a bit of what they wrote:
Crime is the major issue in my country. Lots of our innocent young people are being murdered or injured. People are afraid to go out at evening hours. Families are fearful and communities are nervous when the young people go out at night. THIS HAS TO STOP!
-Julian, 12
One big issue in this country called Anguilla is the stealing. We need to find who the culprits behind this are and lock them up in prison until they learn to work and buy their own things.
-Ricardo, 12
A big issue in Anguilla is girls posting pictures and videos of themselves on the internet. Girls should not be posting these kinds of things. Girls should keep their clothes on and not off. When girls do this, they post and send it on Facebook and all kind of websites. This is not a good example for the young girls.
-Joshua Prince, 12
Anguilla’s big issue is that the government needs to get some more money so that they could pay the teachers, so they would not go on strike because if they do the kids won’t learn.
-Ockeem, 12
This is not a major issue, but an issue to me is the age you have to be in order to drive. It affects me because I always wanted to drive and sometimes my parents will be tired from work and wish that I could have driven them around.
-Josiah, 12
One big issue in Anguilla is the roads. They need to build new roads in my neighbourhood and all around Anguilla. We can solve this by asking the government to fix the roads or we could just fix it ourselves because the government cannot help all the time and they don’t make the best roads.
-Gary, 12
One issue we have in Anguilla is children getting too much lashes for stupidness. Some parents tease their kids, curse them with bad words and send them to school without food. The way to solve this conflict is to sit down with your child and discuss with each other and parents must tell their child sorry.
-Lashawn, 13
Anguilla needs to change. We need the young people of our generation to live, to fight for our generation’s rights, to become the people of tomorrow. We need politicians and a new Chief Minister for the future of our little Anguilla.
-Roland, 12
One thing that Anguilla needs is money. There is not enough money in the country. If we have the money, school would be easier with electronic devices and we will get a better education. With no education there will most definitely be violence. People will kill people and others will get killed in crossfire.
-Lequoni, 13
Anguilla’s issue is the roads. The roads are too bumpy. Ways we can solve this is by patching up the roads. Most roads in Anguilla need to tar over. When this is done there will be no more flat tires, bike accidents and cars won’t be easily dirtied.
-Tyquan, 12
Anguilla has a big issue and that issue is not enough water in the country. Not enough water in the country is bad because the people of Anguilla cannot do their home chores like wash dishes, clean the house or bathe. The water department should build more tanks.
-Kymauri, 13
A big issue is the expenses in Anguilla. There are not yet many jobs in Anguilla but yet prices in the shops are very high. Instead of them bringing down the prices, they are raising them higher. We can solve this issue by having a conscience and working out a way to reduce expenses in Anguilla.
-Maria, 12
Did you know that littering is one of the biggest issues in Anguilla, especially littering on the beaches? People are throwing their garbage on the beach like it is a decoration but they really need to know what it is doing to our water and aquatic animals.
-Keila, 14
The same people that throw trash on the shore or in the sea, catch the fish, eat them and may get sick. They can put garbage bins on the beaches so that people can use the bins. We need to keep our little Anguilla clean.
-Kurverna, 13
The biggest issue in Anguilla is the rocky, bumpy, unpleasant roads. 90% of them are unpleasant to drive on, especially with all those reckless drivers out there.
-Delnecia , 12
A big issue in Anguilla is that there is too much violence in the communities. To stop this from happening, the gang members can come together and make peace in the communities again.
-Edgiton, 13
The children are our future and we need to protect them from these different things: smoking, drinking and violence. Have you ever heard a child talk about weed, cocaine, heroin or vodka? I hear this and it does not sound good. Your parents will feel ashamed if you died from drugs so stop. Stop while you can.
-J’uthari, 12
A big issue in Anguilla is this crime. Crime affects us and this killing, fighting, bullying needs to stop! We are getting fewer tourists to come in our country because of these crimes. We can solve this issue by coming as one, loving each other, helping one another and by doing the right thing.
-Cheyenne, 13
This is the day when issues need to stop! Workers say we need more money but where will we get it? Teachers need to stop with their favourites, they need to treat everybody fairly! All of this fighting and cursing and violence need to stop!
-Rankecia, 13
In Anguilla we have a big issue that the foreigners are coming to Anguilla, like the Chinese, and building supermarkets and restaurants. The Chinese has most of the land while Anguillians barely have an acre of land to build a little store to make a little change for them to live on.
-Ronecio, 12
