Community building anchored by strong father figures remains critical to steering young people away from negative influences, says Member of Parliament for St Michael West, Chris Gibbs.
Speaking to Barbados Today during his annual Christmas party at Solidarity House on Saturday, Gibbs said his role extended beyond representation to providing guidance and structure for children in the constituency.
“I am a father figure for these children. I’ve been working in these communities for seven years come January and I can tell you, seven years ago, an eight-year-old now would be 15, 16 years old, so I’ve seen my kids grow up. It’s important, as an MP, to be a father figure to these children,” he said.
Gibbs stressed that mentorship and structure were essential to addressing social challenges within communities, adding that while Christmas activities were important, sustained programmes were even more critical.
“In order to stave off the deviance that we have in our communities, we need father figures, and our kids need structure,” he said. “So yes, this is an important event for them to have fun at Christmas and also to get gifts and see Santa. But more importantly, as an MP, it’s important to have developmental programmes.”
He outlined a range of initiatives implemented in St Michael West, including educational and sporting programmes developed through partnerships with community organisations. These include a book and reading club, a homework programme, a video game club, cricket clubs and other developmental activities.
Explaining the rationale behind these initiatives, Gibbs said keeping children engaged was key to helping them navigate the challenges they face.
“And why do I do these things? [It’s] because if you keep children active in sports, it keeps their brains engaged and helps them follow a positive path,” he said.
He acknowledged that hardships within communities could affect children’s ability to focus and thrive.
“And yes, there are a lot of influences in the communities that can influence our kids in a certain way and these activities help to get their minds away from these issues. Sometimes the hardships of our communities creep into our children’s lives and it’s hard for them to focus,” Gibbs said.
He added that addressing these issues required collective effort.
“So we all can play a role in that, the churches, the sports clubs, you know, everybody can come together and essentially help to give our kids structure.”
The MP placed particular emphasis on the need for male mentorship, especially for young boys, referencing national calls for mentorship programmes.
“A lot of young boys don’t have mentors, so being a father figure to our children, especially our young males, is hugely important,” he said.
“You would have heard both the prime minister and our newly appointed president speak about mentorship programmes, trying to encourage Barbadians to sign up for these established programmes so that we can help to mentor our children.”
Gibbs also highlighted alternative approaches to mentorship, including peer engagement.
“Mentorship is not just about spending time. The prime minister likes to talk about reasoning,” he said, pointing to a recent reasoning session involving secondary school students. “A lot of children, 14, 15, 16, 17-year-olds, are signing up to reason with their peers and this is very important because they can speak to them in a way that other people can’t.”
He said the concept of father figures should be viewed more broadly.
“The traditional way that we think about father figures is not necessarily just about discipline and those things but just reasoning with our children so that we can keep them off the road to deviancy is hugely important,” Gibbs said, adding that community involvement was central to national development. “Obviously with the communities coming in and playing a role, we can help to make this country a better place for our young men.”
Hundreds of children attended the Christmas party, which featured fun rides, face painting, jumping tents and a visit from Santa, who led a gift-giving session as families gathered to celebrate the festive season. (SZB)
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