YOUTH REPORT "TROUBLING"

Details of a crucial report on the socioeconomic situation of youth
in The Bahamas emerged yesterday with Youth Minister Neville Wisdom
drawing attention to certain troubling revelations contained in the
document compiled by the Inter American Development.

For instance, the January 2005 report - called The Situation of Youth
in The Bahamas - which was tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday,
showed that almost half of all male secondary school students and 20
percent of all female students are sexually active by the time they
are 15.

Seventy percent of male students and 41 percent of female students 16
and older are sexually active, according to the report, which added
that at the same time over half of all sexually active adolescents
report that they never use birth control.

"Initiation of sexual activity begins early and a pattern of young
people engaging in unprotected sex with multiple partners is
evident," stated the report.

The average age for first intercourse was 12 years for boys and 14
years for females, the report said. Additionally, approximately 45
percent of sexually active adolescent girls reported that their first
sexual encounter was pressured or forced.

It was also reported that boys are also at risk as one out of every
four sexually active boys reported the same thing.

Serious concerns about reproductive health and even substance abuse
were not the only areas of concern to which researcher Dr. Lorraine
Blank referred.

"There are a number of interrelated factors that interfere with
optimal youth development including poverty; low levels of academic
achievement; poor labour market outcomes; unhealthy lifestyles;
unstable home environments; delinquency, crime and violence," the
report said.

When he tabled the report, Minister Wisdom drew attention to certain
troubling references and called for revised and innovative approaches
to dealing with youth oriented challenges.

The IDB report said teenage pregnancy continues to be a matter of
concern in The Bahamas. Six percent of adolescent girls between the
ages of 10 and 19 reported being pregnant at least once.

"Teenage pregnancy can have serious consequences for the long term
economic prospects of both mother and child. Teenage pregnancy
decreases the likelihood that the mother will complete her
education," stated the report.

"As a result labour market prospects for teen mothers are poor and
their risk of poverty high. The limited education of mothers also has
implications for their ability to parent effectively and consequently
for the development of their child."

The analysts also conceded that a troubling number of secondary
students show evidence of serious substance abuse although the report
said that the vast majority of secondary students abstain from
alcohol and illegal drugs.

The research found that male students drink significantly more than
females. Seven percent of males in contrast to three percent of
females reported that they consumed four or more drinks per occasion.
The usual number of drinks per occasion increases with age.

The report also found that among the students who drink, only two
percent in the 10 to 12 year-old range in contrast to almost 11
percent of those 16 years and older report that they usually consume
four or more drinks.

The bigger concern here is that there is a correlation between
alcohol use and becoming violent. Students who consume four to five
drinks per occasion are five times more likely to carry a gun than
students who never drink, according to experts.

Equally as significant identified in the report was that 17 percent
of the students reported that one or both parents had a drinking
problem, five percent said that one or both parents had a drug
problem and 13 percent had parents who experienced problems due to
violent behaviour.

Minister Wisdom said the alarming statistics cannot be
ignored.

"We can't deny the role that the family plays in the positive
development of youth and we cannot entirely blame and government, the
church the police or any other external group for some of the prices
that we are now paying In our society as they relate to youth
behaviour," said Minister Neville Wisdom.

"Some of the blame must rest at the door of the home. It is
understandable that it is not easy to raise this modern child of
today. But parents must also be willing to change those older methods
of child rearing that are obviously not working with today's youth.
Parents must also abandon the negative behaviours that they are
displaying for their children to see."

He said his ministry intends to develop a national youth development
strategy in collaborated wit the IDB to address the concerns and the
capacity nationally to address them.

The IDB team is already meeting with technical youth officers, with
the focus being on institutional strengthening; exploring the
establishment of a youth development fund; increasing focus on
research and establishing a proper monitoring and evaluation system.