Along with many of the residents of Cayman Brac, I was deeply saddened to read a thoroughly misguided editorial in the Caymanian Compass on 17 May, titled ‘Brackers must be responsible’, which greatly exaggerated the problem of underage drinking on the Brac.
The National Drug Council report (which is still not published in full), provides statistical evidence that the sentiments expressed in the editorial were wrong.
The editorial claimed: ‘Basically, the Brac is raising a generation of alcoholics who will probably have problems finding steady jobs when they’re older.’
The NDC report was based on the findings of the Cayman Islands Student Drug Use Survey, which was conducted in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006, and studied drug and alcohol use by students in Grades 7 through 12.
The report found that in 2006, of the six districts in the Cayman Islands, Cayman Brac had by far the lowest prevalence of underage habitual drinking, and significantly lower levels of binge drinking by students, a trend that shows up in each of the four surveys conducted so far by the NDC.
The sweeping and erroneous generalisations, suggesting that this is particularly a Brac problem and that people who live here are to blame, hurt a very wonderful group of young people and ignored the very positive influence that they are given from many community volunteers and youth leaders.
In fact, the headline in the Compass on 17 May, ‘Underage drinking in Brac’, actually showed a community that is not only concerned about this issue but is actively taking steps to combat it.
No one on the Brac underplays the seriousness of underage drinking. Indeed, it is an issue that has been raised at several community police meetings – though it should be noted that problems raised in other districts (gangs, for example) simply don’t exist here.
This issue is not, as suggested in the editorial, forgotten or neglected, but is taken very seriously. This community still retains the principles of a village raising all of our children and everyone on the island shares in the successes of our children. They also feel – and discuss – every challenge faced by every child, and it is precisely because of this that issues can sometimes appear larger than they actually are.
It is not only the police who take steps to combat problems with our youth, as the editorial indicated. When staff at the Cayman Brac High School hears that one of their students has a problem, even when it occurs outside the school hours and off-campus, that student is given guidance by staff and counselling if necessary.
This is also true of the active church youth groups, Boy Scouts, the Brac detachment of the Cadet Corps and, indeed, all responsible residents. The Brac is still a place where adults correct children for doing wrong and parents thank them for it.
Any objective study of the Brac youth should weigh the challenges against the enormous achievements of our young people.
The 200 students at CBHS make up approximately seven per cent of the total middle and high school students attending all private and public schools in the Cayman Islands. Despite its size, the school has a reputation for unusually high academic standards and is often regarded as the yardstick for other schools to measure up to.
64.7 per cent of the CBHS 2006 Graduating Class passed at least 5 high level external examinations, topping the Class of 2005, of which 50 per cent passed five or more exams. 46 per cent of the 2005 graduates were Honour students, gaining seven or more high level passes.
These outstanding results are the product of a dedicated teaching faculty, a caring community and parents that are actively involved in their children’s lives. Many Brac residents help in the schools, and we have a small army of volunteers that help kids read or read better, or take the time to tutor students that need additional assistance.
The list of extra-curricular achievements of our students is equally impressive: In the two major inter-school debating competitions in the 2006/2007 academic year, both teams facing each other in the finals were from the CBHS. What an achievement for one small school!
The Junior Achievement Programme on the Brac, sponsored by the Brac Rotary Club, has gone from strength to strength. Last year, of the eight JAP participants chosen to represent the Cayman Islands at the Canadian Junior Achievement Conference, four were from the Brac. This year, all six participants who made presentations at the JAP Awards Banquet were chosen to attend CANJAC. In other words, 75 per cent of the winners were from a school that makes up 7 per cent of the student population.
With strong adult leadership and community volunteers, the young people on the Brac have also made significant achievements in sports, music, art and literature, and it would take up too much space to list them here. Suffice it to say that I am enormously proud of each and every one of them and have the utmost respect for the incredible adults in their lives.
Moses Kirkconnell – Cayman Brac and Little Cayman MLA
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