All glory, honour, thanks and praise be to God.

Good morning students, teachers and other members of staff. Today I will share with you on the
topic of violence, peace and non-violence. A Broad topic but I will focus on some main points. The
session will be divided into a short lecture, a short story and some discussion between us, you
students, I and your teachers. The main points are
(i) violence is a plague
(ii) you must make a deliberate decision to avoid violence and violent behaviour
(iii) you must equip yourself with alternate behaviours to violence and
(iv) forgiveness is a vital process in deflecting violence.
So first the short lecture.
The World Health Organization defines violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power,
threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either
results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment,
or deprivation."[3]
Internationally, violence resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.28 million people in 2013 up from
1.13 million in 1990.[4] Of the deaths in 2013, roughly 842,000 were attributed to self-harm (suicide),
405,000 to interpersonal violence, and 31,000 to collective violence (war) and legal intervention.[4]
In Trinidad January 2018 was one of our bloodiest, with 40 murders in 31 days. 2018 and 2019 saw
murders in excess of 500 each year with 2019 having our second highest recorded number of
murders. 2020 started with 3 brutal murders or murder/suicides. For this year on day 64 there are in
excess of 90 murders, numerous of acts of violence, including domestic violence and the numbers
are growing every day. This year there was a lot of outrage when a doctor was abducted and killed.
In 2018 a 14 year old school boy was injured after being kicked and stomped on the head during a
fight at one southern school. Earlier that same year, a video showing crowds of students fighting and
climbing on cars in POS went viral. Last year another south school was described as being in crisis
as there were reports of a series of violent episodes among students, teachers were in fear for their
lives and parents were removing their children from the school.
These and more incidents have led to school violence being described as a plague. Perhaps that
should be extended to violence in our country being a plague.
The reality is that for each single death due to violence, there are dozens of hospitalizations,
hundreds of emergency department visits, and thousands of doctors' appointments.[6] Furthermore,
violence often has lifelong consequences for physical and mental health and social functioning and
can slow economic and social development. For each reported murder or act of violence there are
many more unreported. Detection rates are negligible. Criminals seem to be having the upper hand.
Violence takes many forms, is caused by many factors and can be preventable. But for prevention
and reduction of violence there has to be re-shaping of our thinking. We need to examine what
causes people to act or react in violence.
Many factors contribute to our high levels of violence. Some would say that having a violent history
from the days of slavery is one of the mitigating factors. Other factors include poverty and
marginalization, the perception or reality of being neglected, gender issues, the drug and gun trade,
a breakdown in family life, a lack of appropriate skills for dealing with conflict, personalities and
more.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist who fought for civil rights using principles of non-violence
in the US from 1954 to 1968, when he was assassinated. You would do well to read his most
famous “I have a dream” speech.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper
darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do
that.”

What kind of person can believe and live by the principles implied in this quotation?

Out of this statement, we can infer that for us to envision, and to establish, a future that is
immaculately landscaped with peace and in which our hurts are transformed by and into hope, we
should NOT fight fire with fire.

Come on we know better than that. How many of you here remember your basic science? A fire
needs oxygen to keep burning. It needs fuel. Remove that fuel, extinguish the fire. Isn’t that so?

If we want to put out the flames of violence, hatred and lack of respect, then we should smother the
flames of violence by qualities that are directly opposite to those negatives.

Everywhere we go in Trinidad and Tobago, the hottest topic is our level of crime; the number of
murders, the number of incidents of gun violence. It makes us afraid. And yet, wherever we turn,
even amongst those of us who are not considered criminals, there is intolerance, agitation, easy
frustration. Things must be our way and our way immediately or else someone is going to pay.
Someone is going to be told off, cursed or screamed at, chopped, beaten, shot at or…

Change is vital. Crime and violence appear to have taken over our society. Are we going to throw
our arms into the air and give up without trying to make a difference? Are we going to allow this
downward spiral to continue unchecked?

The good thing is that each of us has the power and the responsibility to make a change within our
own spheres of influence. The change has started but has to avalanche.

There are many good people working assiduously with young people. Listening to their concerns
and trying to address their needs. The onus is on you to know right from wrong and to make
conscious decisions against violence.

Take for example the youth in Marabella, they are given opportunity to get out of poverty and despair
using football through the Marabella Family Crisis Centre. There are numerous examples. I am sure
within your own community there are groups that engage youths in activities such as dance, art,
running, athletics, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, reading, writing, poetry, craft and much more.
There are many alternatives to violence, all you have to do is seek them out deliberately. Accept that
you want more to life than this life of violence. Accept that there is a hereafter and that you are
accountable even after death.

What if someone has done you wrong? What do you do? Sometimes it seems that the only way out
is to get back at the person or their family, to seek revenge. Allow me to share a short story with you.

In 2013 a 47 year old teacher was shot in her face, chest and shoulder during an attempted robbery.
That incident changed her life, her face, her students’ lives, her family members’ lives and much
more. Her only child, her son, wanted to seek revenge. Fortunately she had time while recuperating
to come to a point of forgiveness through prayerful introspection. She counselled her son and sought
professional and religious counselling for him as well. That situation never grew beyond a thought of
revenge. Imagine if it had been handled differently. One retribution killing would have led to another,
to different crimes, to more sin. And we have seen this happen regularly here in Trinidad. Diffusing
violence then must also come about by having a forgiving heart. If that person could forgive even
when her face was shattered, her sense of self was taken away, her job was compromised, her
savings depleted for surgery and healing, then surely you too can come to forgive others.

To recap the four main points:

(i) violence is a national plague

(ii) you must make a deliberate decision to avoid violence and violent behaviour
(iii) you must equip yourself with alternate behaviours to violence and
(iv) forgiveness is a vital process in deflecting violence.

Now that the lecture is over, let us have an open discussion. You have been presented with a copy
of some lyrics, either using that or if you have any comments or questions about what was presented
let us begin.

1. What is violence in your opinion?

2. Why do you think there is so much violence in our tiny twin republic?
3. What is the song discussing?