Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General with responsibility for Crime Prevention, Corey Lane, has reiterated Government’s commitment to continue empowering and inspiring young people.
Mr. Lane stressed this point today as he presented a set of books to St. Stephen’s Primary School. Eleven-year-old Anna Paul wrote the series – The Adventures of Poro the Polar Bear, which includes A Lesson on Self Control and Exploring The Shipwreck. They were published in partnership with the National Peace Program (NPP).
Minister Lane congratulated and thanked Anna for taking the time to write, publish and share her stories, saying they would be an inspiration for children.
In explaining why NPP partnered on this initiative, he stated: “Crime prevention takes three phases – reducing the heat on the street, which we have done fairly well so far; situational crime prevention which is ensuring that we have enough patrols, lights, cameras and so on.
“But the ultimate crime prevention is to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place. Therefore, we must work with parents and young people to ensure that they can be inspired to be authors, or whatever they want to be in a positive way, to highlight and reward them and show that good will be acknowledged.”
Mr. Lane said the National Peace Program is on a mission to inspire young people to do well.
Principal of St. Stephen’s Primary School, Pamela Ifill, thanked the Office of the Attorney General for the books, and promised that the students would “make good use” of them. Mrs. Ifill continued: “There is an author in every one of us, we just need to tap into that source, and I…thank Anna for reminding us of that fact…. I know you have been inspired, children, to write your own story.”