Alfred Dawes | Ghetto role models

The latest shock and outrage in Jamaica surrounds the video of a boy, who when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, replied that he wants to be a gunman and shoot police. “This is learnt behaviour”; “Where are the parents?”: “The cameraman was not reprimanding or correcting him!”. The armchair experts are shocked, stunned, appalled, and taken aback that a child could think like that. Why are y’all shocked, though? What else did you expect? What does the average poor kid growing up have to look forward to? Who are his role models?

I recently test-drove a high-end vehicle that I clearly cannot afford but had the opportunity to take home for a weekend. While driving through a farming community, a group of boys gathered at a stall ran out into the road with gun fingers in the air shouting “Machine!”, (a praise for a nice car for all you Baby Boomers out there). Obviously my dream car was theirs, too. As I went about my joyride, I could not help but think what a conversation would sound like if I had stopped and given them a peek inside and under the bonnet.

“Yes, lads, if you stay in school and study hard then go to medical school for five years then five more years of surgery training followed by almost another year of various subspeciality training, then when you’re forty years old, you can test-drive any car that the folks think you ought to be able to afford. You buckle down and defer gratification for a couple of decades and you’ll be set for life!”

CAN’T AFFORD STIGMA ATTACHED

Compare this with the conversation that they are more likely to have with those they see around them more often, the scammers, hustlers and, of course, the gunmen. Those who achieve riches through hard work and grit don’t go back to the communities from whence they came. They can’t afford to have that stigma attached to them as they climb the corporate and social ladders. Yes, the story of them overcoming the odds of being born poor is a fairy tale that some relish in retelling. But the story must have the ending where they are now living in a house on the hill with the fancy cars and perfect job. Going back to live in the ghetto would not suit their profile.

The ones who stayed and made it, or went back with wealth, are more likely those who hustled and rose through crime or politics. It is their cars that tell the children what to aspire to. They are the role models for the next generation. In a culture that glorifies the here and now and material displays of success are a right of passage, role models are naturally those who flaunt the most and the earliest. The intersection of these ideals lies in the realm of the underworld, the entertainment industry, and in sports. Unfortunately, it is most likely to be the gunmen and dons who have the free time to hang out in depressed communities.

When they see the displays of wealth and are awed by the tales of criminal adventures, who do you think the children will be drawn towards? The occasional “bigman” who passes through with his motivational talks about being anything you want to be no matter where you’re coming from is from another world. His life is as abstract as the deferred gratification of which he speaks. The boys see who they grew up with going abroad and buss big before coming back to live large among them. They see the gunmen rise through the ranks to run the corner and drive high-end vehicles. Theirs is a clearly defined pathway to riches and it is right there to follow. You want them to pursue education when the highly educated teachers take taxis or drive modest cars? Which path will they follow?

GLORIFICATION OF GANGSTER LIFESTYLE

The glorification of the gangster lifestyle by our music only serves to make it more aspirational. The girls are drawn to the men who beat shots not books. The VIP sections in dances are the stomping grounds for hustlers. The businessmen and professionals don’t venture south of the clock since Hot Mondays ended. The top shelf liquor is purchased by only a few in the reality of the ghetto, and their lavishness makes them the envy and the heroes of everyone in the session. Who would not want to be them?

We professionals and business people who attained some degree of success have abdicated our social responsibility to show the next generation that there is another way outside of what they see in their reality. However, to do so, our achievements and lives cannot be abstract and foreign. The youths need role models. We do not need to go live in the ghetto, but through social programmes and advocacy, we can be part of their lives, making what we achieved seem closer and within reach. The vacuum created by the absence of positive role models for the youth will quickly be filled by those who threaten our society the most. When that happens, it is essentially their succession planning that we are facilitating.

So the next time we see a lost or losing-their-way youth, stop bemoaning the decline in society and ask yourself what you are doing to fill the vacuum. Maybe the outrage will be a little muted.

- Alfred Dawes is a general, laparoscopic, and weight-loss surgeon; Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; former senior medical officer of the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital; former president of Jamaica Medical Doctors Association. @dr_aldawes. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and adawes@ilapmedical.com.