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The Social Empowerment Agency (SEA) on Thursday launched an all-male youth workshop aimed at boys aged 12 to 16, as officials warned that rising violence, peer pressure and increasing encounters with the justice system are reshaping adolescence for many young Barbadian males.

Held at the 3Ws Pavilion at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, the workshop, titled The Blueprint: Designing the Man You Want to Be, brought together representatives from the Barbados Police Service, drug counselling agencies, health professionals, legal representatives, the Probation Department and educators to equip boys with tools to navigate an increasingly complex social environment.

Deputy chairman of SEA Carl Applewhaite said the agency was intentionally creating a space where young males could feel acknowledged and supported.

“In the words of the Prime Minister, [SEA] is known as see-ah… very similar to how within a Barbadian context we say in Bajan ‘we see you’; she wants to ensure that a social services agency is rooted firmly in Barbadian culture and identity.

“This session today is to ensure that as young men you feel seen or you are seen. You are helped and you are heard.”

The challenges confronting young people had changed dramatically over the years, Applewhaite said. 

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“The Social Empowerment Agency realises that we are fighting a different fight in 2026 than we did years ago. There are challenges facing the youth which include increased peer pressure, more mental health challenges, a scourge in violence, and a multiplicity of other factors that are facing our youth, particularly our male youth.”

He added that the workshop formed part of a broader effort to tackle the root causes of delinquency.

“To that extent, the objective here today is to ensure that we dismantle programmed survival code responses that lead to violence and delinquency.”

Director of the Social Care Delivery and Support Directorate, Roseann Richards, said the session completed SEA’s five-part stakeholder workshop series and was prompted by troubling trends involving adolescent boys.

“This topic we will be engaging today is ‘Designing the man you want to be’. It is timely and topical as our country has been seeing some of our young males, some under the age of 18 years, come into conflict with the law.”

Drawing from her experience working with children and families, she expressed concern about the growing disengagement of some boys:

“I am very concerned about the way some of our young boys seem disengaged from family, the social fabric of our society, seemingly disinterested in what is happening in the educational space and not actively involved in any extracurricular activity, sport or community group.

“I’m equally concerned about those gravitating towards the negative occurrences within society: smoking, drinking alcohol as minors, bullying your peers, etc.”

Richards urged the boys to challenge harmful stereotypes and become comfortable expressing emotions.

“As young boys, I want to persuade you to voice your views or express your feelings of happiness, sadness, frustrations, and do not bottle up your feelings. Speak to a trusted adult.”

Richards highlighted the need for “positive role models” and “strong mentors” to help navigate the boys on their journey to being men. 

Social worker in SEA’s Child Care Unit, Jakeem Sealy, said the initiative was designed specifically in response to the realities facing young males.

“We recognise and understand that in Barbados, as we are all aware, the crime rate among boys 18 and under is extremely high.”

He noted that one presentation would examine the link between trauma and behaviour:

“We understand that there is a connection and a correlation between child maltreatment and current behaviour.

“One of our key points is to allow young boys and men by extension to know that it’s okay to be emotionally vulnerable. It is okay to cry. It is okay to feel pain. It is okay to express sorrow… There’s a safe space in your school and in your community where young men can express these emotions and feel safe.”

Founder and Chairman of Drug Education Counselling Services (DECS), Roger Husbands, focused on helping participants recognise and resist unhealthy influences.

“Because there’s good peer pressure, there’s bad peer pressure, and because our young people are influenced by a lot of some of them, a lot of negative behavior, some young people might not understand that look, this is not the road to take.”

He encouraged participants to trust their own judgement:

“You don’t have to follow the path, you can be your own lone wolf.”

Presenter Paul “Ras Simba Akoma” Rock also challenged participants to rethink masculinity and understand the importance of self-control.

“The good man or a good man has to have the capacity to be violent and choose not to be.

“What I want to show them is that we understand.

“You also have to know time and place. You have to understand triggers. You have to understand emotional imbalance and how you control these things.”

He continued: “If we want to prepare boys to be men, we have to let them understand their own capacities to be violent and to control it in the midst of an environment that sort of encourages chaotic violence and representations of that violence.”

Designed around a “shoulder-to-shoulder” approach rather than traditional lectures, the workshop addressed topics including child maltreatment and brain development, digital safety, peer pressure, masculinity and mental health.

According to SEA, the objective is to help participants identify emotional triggers, challenge harmful stereotypes about manhood, resist negative peer and online influences, understand the long-term consequences of their choices and develop healthy digital habits.

Officials said the ultimate goal is to empower boys to move from being passive followers of destructive social scripts to becoming proactive young men capable of contributing positively to their families and communities.

(LE)