We know of a youth group made of about 30 young people - all too tough for regular school - who were given an intensive mix of boxing, sports and regular classes. Not long after the group was formed, a young man was thrown out for threatening another with a knife. Classes take place in scruffy rooms next to the boxing ring. But the instructor says, his mix of discipline and encouragement helps aggressive, troubled young men improve both their behavior and grades. More than anything the group tries to broaden horizons. The group was taken to a musical night at the Dundas because none of them had been to the theater before. The instructor thinks that experiences like that can become part of a larger "encounter culture" in which Bahamian young persons - rich and poor, urban and rural, black and white, mix with those from different backgrounds.
The Bahamas along with the entire world faces the worst recession since the 1930s, bringing with it the prospect of massive job losses and consequent urban unrest. Hundreds of our work force and now out of work, young and not so young. Just as our nation's bankers seemed to have chocked on their freedom, so a new generation of young people - especially those from poorer backgrounds - struggles to grow older, younger. Many emerge with a thin conception of civilized citizenship, skeptical about whether there is such a thing as society - and even if there is, what it has to do with them. For years, however, hovering behind these debates, the outline of an institutional response has been visible: One that has broad support from the political class and public alike. There is an urgent need for some kind of compulsory civic (or national) service.
We are proposing the introduction of a mandatory national citizenship service program. Every Bahamian young person, aged 16 to 25, should be paid a modest amount - perhaps around the minimum wage - to spend at least twelve months, (or perhaps six months) working on projects supporting Bahamian children, the sick and elderly, the environment, and international development. Properly designed, such a scheme could help to reduce youth unemployment, answer many social needs that are not met by either the market or existing public services and provide young people with structure, rites of passage, the opportunity to serve and the chance to move beyond the limited horizons in which they were born.
Of course civic or national service is not a silver bullet. It would be expensive and controversial, requiring a huge national effort, part funded by the state and run by the voluntary and private sectors. Critics will attack it as unaffordable, inefficient, illiberal and a destroyer of jobs. But the measure would be highly popular with the public and would help to roll back a range of worrying trends, including our nation's loss of a sense of security and national purpose.
This relatively young nation's identity was built not on blood lines or ethnicity, but human ingenuity. Our forefathers shaped as best they were able through periods of relative poverty, the boom and bust of prohibition and other periods when we were rescued by mere events over which we had no control. Through this all we salvaged the basis of Christian morality.
The main purpose of civic service is what may appear like a quaintly old-fashioned notion: Producing better citizens. Many young people today enjoy extraordinary opportunities to grow, learn and travel- emerging into adulthood more confident, tolerant and worldly-wise than their parents were at the same age. But many are less lucky. It isn't just that they are aware of sex and shopping at an earlier age, although this is true. More importantly, their transition to adulthood is increasingly individualized and unsettling. With what appears to be a global recession, this has increased the importance of social skills - frequently described as the ability to look an employer in the eye, but also self-discipline, empathy and the ability to communicate. (one United States study claims that self discipline is twice as important as IQ in predicting examination results. But it is precisely in instilling these skills along with habits of altruism and civic engagement, that many parents and schools are failing. The result is a generation some call "freedom orphans".
Thankfully, there is a consensus about how to respond. Put bluntly, and perhaps uncomfortably for some, it turns out that the social conservatives were right all along. Character building really is all about team sports, and group activities like those employed by the Girl Guides, cadets or the Boys Brigade. Academics and ministers now call such things "positive structured activities" Many parents instinctively understand their benefits, which is why they spend so much time and money on weekends shuttling their children from orchestra practice to sports clubs like swimming and soccer football. But other children, too, can gain confidence and a sense of self-control from such activities as long they take place over an extended period, one focused on a goal in a group setting and are under competent adult supervision.
Civic service would provide just such an experience to every young person in The Bahamas, helping them to gain new confidence and the type of soft skills valued by employers. But just as important would be the chance to mix with others from different backgrounds. In support of this vision a psychologist called this an "encounter culture", which under the right conditions increases the level of contact between different groups and is enough to generate more favorable relationships between them. A sociologist meanwhile shows that "intergroup contact" can increase tolerance and promote social cohesion.
Civic service could provide just such a nudge. All young people could emerge into adulthood with some knowledge of the institutions that make their country tick, having rubbed up against different races and classes in so doing. In this era, in which young people can keep in contact with fellows more easily than ever before, it would just be the experience which stayed with you for life: Friends from your service year would stay with you too. Most importantly, the children of the poorest families would have worked alongside the offspring of wealthier ones, graduating in the same ceremony, to become citizens together. Such civic service would be a central part of the new era of responsibility, matching the remoralisation of our county with a push to restore our society.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
