Guardian Radio Today - August 28 2025

[00:00:00] Speaker A: The views and opinions of the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the. [00:00:07] Speaker B: Management and staff of Guardian Radio. Garden Radio today is brought to you by a Capron International Academy Alive, Burger King, Cary's Fabric and Uniform Store, the Cleveland Clinic, Commonwealth Bank, Epic Battery, Printmasters Bronze Electric Motors, the Shoe Depot and Wendy's. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Good afternoon, everybody. It is a beautiful Thursday here in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It is August 28, and you are listening to Guardian Talk Radio. I am your host today, Darvin Russell, and I will introduce my guest in a moment. But let me talk to you a little bit about what we are going to have a conversation with today. The captain of the ship, Garth Roseborough is away on a much needed vacation. So he, along with my number one radio fan, is chilling and I want them to enjoy themselves while they're on break. And together we will be back again. God spares life on Sunday on Remark. But today on Guardian today we are going to be finishing our conversation that we began last week talking about. And I asked the question, are our children. Okay, I'm going to reframe that conversation for you to join us here in studio with your questions and commentary, as always. And you know, when I host or co host a show, I like for us to keep the discord, the discourse at the highest possible level. So let's just keep it really friendly. No need to be fussing because we're talking about the cheering today. But for those of you that are going to be participating in our conversation today, you can call us at these numbers 323-623-23254316 and 325-4259. Those in the family of islands, you can get us at 242-300-5020. And for our texters, you can get us at 422-4796. Now I have the pleasure of being in studio with my good friend, my Starbucks companion, and he is the man in the Bahamas who's the only politician I know that needs no introduction. You know, politicians, you know, everybody knows what a politician is, but everybody knows my guest. I mean, I have never gone someplace with him and we're sitting down and the people invariably come in and don't introduce themselves to this man. He is a person who I have come to love and admire over the years. And, you know, me and Garth are good friends. And I don't know Garth, I think my other buddy here. It is a close tie. But nevertheless, without further ado, I want to introduce you my guest for today while we chop it up with you guys to talk about the kids. Ambassador Roll Glenn, say good afternoon to the people. [00:04:01] Speaker C: Good afternoon. Good afternoon. That's the right timing when you talk with politicians looking for God, right? I said, man, this brother getting me in trouble. [00:04:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:04:15] Speaker C: I am trying to run far away. [00:04:18] Speaker A: You know, I understand. [00:04:19] Speaker C: Far away. You know, the Bahamian people made sure I got zero votes. So at the end of the day that disqualified me. [00:04:26] Speaker B: Right. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Fair enough. Next time. [00:04:29] Speaker C: It's good to be here. [00:04:30] Speaker A: My brother, man. Thank you for joining me today in studio. So let me reframe for those of you that were not with us last week, a conversation that's quite sobering. And the backdrop to this conversation really came about as a result of a report that Dr. Darvill had released as a part of his budget contribution dealing with the Global School Health Report is the title of the report for those of you who are data junkies like me who like to read these kinds of things. But the results from the Global health report of 2025, the data from this report I think was gathered between 2022 and 2023, mostly, if memory serves me correctly, but it was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, obviously with the support of the Ministry of Education and brother Glenn. They surveyed 13 to 17 year olds for the purposes of this report. Some of the findings that we'll chop up and talk about with the audience today include the following. So they looked at a multi year study and they were trying to get a sense of adolescent health and priority focused areas critical to improving the well being of our children. The areas surveyed included the sexual behavior of young people, substance abuse, what is their level of exposure to violence, what are their mental health challenges, what are any thing is do they have suicidal ideation and what are the chronic disease risk factors. So as you can tell from that list, it was pretty thorough, pretty comprehensive review of the state of our children. Now many of us recognize that 13 to 17 is high school years, I guess for us, junior high for the younger one, senior high for the older ones in that age range. And some of the findings from this study that I want you to consider are the following that we'll talk a little bit about today during our time together. 21% of the teens in that age bracket, brother Glenn, are considered obese. 21%, 56% of the teens are considered sexually active by 13, 56 are sexually active by 13. 17% of Bahamian children use E cigarettes and 10% traditional cigarettes. This is the one that that blew me away. 73.9% of our teens are drinking. [00:07:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:25] Speaker A: 17 years old or younger, 16.6% of our teens now use marijuana and 12% use cocaine. This is up from 1% that identified as having used cocaine in 1998. 32% of teenagers experience or witness violence in their homes. 30% reported being involved in fights on or around school. 38% acknowledged that they were bullied. Another 30% of teens always or most of the time feel depressed and hopeless. This is an increase from 20% in 1998. And the final statistic from this report that I will share before we start to talk about this is 19 and a half percent of teens have attempted suicide. And that was the piece of data that Dr. Darvill shared within his report. He didn't talk about the, at least the clip that I saw, the volume of findings that I just shared some of the highlights with you guys on the state of our children. Interesting that we're having this conversation today on the backdrop of what our northern neighbors are dealing with this morning. In the aftermath of what happened to those children in Minnesota, teens are under tremendous pressure. And then this morning, coming up on my feed on Facebook, a young man committed suicide. And his parents seem to be really engaged parents. The mother and the father are suing OpenAI ChatGPT because ChatGPT was used as the team's companion as he talked to ChatGPT like it was a person about what he was planning on doing. So needless to say, what is going on in 2025 when it comes to our children, to me, is fundamentally different from what you or I would have experienced as teenagers. So when you, when you listen to some of those statistics and some of the findings from the report, what about it strikes you as the most alarming thing? What concerns you as a parent, as a, as a father, as a husband? What, what, what strikes you in, in those bits of information that I shared. [00:10:11] Speaker C: I, I, I heard the report. Good evening. Good afternoon, everybody. I heard the report and, and instantly I became overwhelmed. [00:10:20] Speaker A: All right. [00:10:21] Speaker C: Because I, I believe, Mr. Russell, it, you know, you get a sense or feel that something sort of is, is not right. [00:10:29] Speaker A: Yes. [00:10:30] Speaker C: But when and was scientific driven and it came from the source that it did, it sort of reinforced all of the fears or the concerns that you have, some of the things that you see within the context of the community, both my background as a police officer or in the pastoral, you get a sense of what's happening within the context of the community. And so while there may not have been a Specific thing, definitely, if there was one such thing, would be the idea of suicide, the idea of the thoughts and other stuff. And I'm not sure whether that is normal or not in the context that people go through various kinds of changes. [00:11:09] Speaker A: Right. [00:11:10] Speaker C: But what came out of that was the sense for all of us. And I believe when I heard it instantly I hit up some of the persons that I am aware who are involved in ministry, involved with dealing with children. And I sent it to about five, six different groups and say, hey, we've got to do something about it. Absolutely. So the sense of urgency, the sense that this is a. Not hear it coming from a legitimate governmental source means that this is something that requires all of us to act our children and crisis. I'll just say this statement we were talking about while we were driving that one of the speakers during the chaplaincy conference that we were to in Orlando, one of the speakers, Pastor Tim Johnson, he put it this way, when the fathers are in crisis, the next generation feels the impact. [00:12:02] Speaker B: Wow. [00:12:03] Speaker C: And so my sense of all of this is not just our children, that what we're seeing manifested in the context of our children as a result of the many other societal ills. And the children are really being made to bear the brunt of what they're feeling and they're expressing it in different ways. Sexual ways, drug, race, anything that in their mind or thought can bring some, some level of satisfaction. So I think it's a conversation I want to commend you for again, ensuring that we continue this conversation. [00:12:34] Speaker A: No, it's a, it's a, it's a great commentary, Glenn, especially when it comes to the father. So those, those consistent listeners who have heard me on radio now know that I am, I enjoy reading like so many of our guests do. And the book that I am reading now, it's a, it's a, it's heavy with data, but it's a, it's not something. What it is, you're is being, trying to be imparted on you. And it's called the Boy Crisis. And while it's different, difficult for us, you know, for those Bahamian authors who are trying to, to really create books that are about our lived experiences until we get to that, to that level with a degree of consistency that we can really see and analyze with findings like this that are multi year studies, the Boy Crisis talks about what young men are experiencing across the world. And of course by across the world, we know they mean major economies and countries. But one of the things that has already become apparent in the book is the magnitude to which boys are disproportionately affected by the absence of fathers and how it has gotten to epidemic proportions with the increase of divorce, the increase of unmarried women having children. And the list goes on and on. The thing that the authors highlight that is the biggest challenge with not having fathers, the author calls it what he, what he mentions. It's the purpose void. Yeah. And what it means in layman's terms is that it's almost like the inability of boys to find a grounding, if you will, and a direction for their life without daddy being their North Star, if you will. Girls have a different problem when fathers are not home. And you know, we can talk about that if we have an opportunity. But really it's the boys that are affected by the seeming aimlessness with which they go through life. This, this lack of identity with manhood or what, what, what healthy masculinity looks like is one of the significant findings. But we've got a call on the. Let's hear what, what they have to say. Carlo, welcome to Guardian Radio. You're on the air with Darvin and Glenn. How are you? [00:15:07] Speaker B: Guest? You know, many men are wondering what is taking place on Earth planet. Yeah, last about three weeks ago or four in Austin, Texas. The little children them going on camping, sleeping. Oh yeah, look at the overflow came drowned so many some yet they still fine people still are wondering what is going on the other day or yesterday in United States in one of the Catholic Church this 20 year old man when their children down praying, you know, go back to school. What's going on? [00:15:55] Speaker A: I don't know my brother. [00:15:55] Speaker B: For real, who? You can't ask nobody because they don't know you. I don't care who you go to now. They don't have the answer. So all we have to do safeguard our children and just keep praying for one another in this day and time. Thank you. [00:16:16] Speaker A: Thank you my brother for your contribution. [00:16:18] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:16:18] Speaker A: You know, I think we're back at the stage. If you remember Glenn, you know, you and I are students of politics around the world actually. And if you remember, Hillary Clinton a good many years ago now talked about a village raising a child. [00:16:31] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:16:32] Speaker A: I think we've lost that concept and we have to revisit it. We'll talk a little later today in the show if we have time to talk about some solutions. I have around that. But I do believe that we have to take a greater responsibility as a community when it comes to raising our children. So we've got Another call. Go ahead, Callie. You're on the air on Guardian today with Garvin and Glenn. [00:16:54] Speaker B: Good afternoon, Gavin. [00:16:56] Speaker C: Good afternoon, sir. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Yeah, Cleaver down from here. Okay. Gavin. 22 years ago I realized some deficiency. It was basically longer than that. Yes, but 22 years ago I realized some deficiency in our legislation. [00:17:14] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:17:14] Speaker B: You know, because anytime things are affecting me in a voice situation, I would look at the legislation or the policy that is driving it and try to champion a cause to have it abolished. [00:17:33] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:33] Speaker B: But we had a legislation at the time because I happen to have been a father who had a child born out of wedlock. [00:17:40] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:17:41] Speaker B: And the situation was a bit ad hoc, but then it took my mother at the court legislation in place to even accommodate a court hearing. [00:17:50] Speaker A: Wow. [00:17:50] Speaker B: To initiate one. You know, there was a bill on. There's a law in the book called the Affiliation of Proceedings Act119, which only recognized the father in terms of maintenance. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Okay. Not in terms of custody or stuff like that. Or visitation and those kinds of money. [00:18:07] Speaker B: Yeah. But I didn't really want that. [00:18:08] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:09] Speaker B: That wasn't really what I wanted. I wanted shared parental responsibility, shared custody. [00:18:13] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:14] Speaker B: But it took me basically 40 months. And this was before we had social media, WhatsApp, these iPhones, etc. We just had the print electronic media. But in 40 months we were able to get the Child Protection act passed in Parliament. [00:18:32] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:32] Speaker B: Which was supposed to be consistent with what we would have agreed to as a country and as a government in 1989. Then we became a signatory to a Geneva Convention which speaks to the rights of children. Then we were able to ratify it in 19. In 1991. [00:18:55] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:18:56] Speaker B: But it was an endowment for about 10 years or so, 11 years, just sitting there. Committee was formed, but nobody really did anything to it. But this legislature, this treaty was supposed to bring some sort of inclusion and wipe away a lot of pears from many fathers eyes. [00:19:14] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:19:15] Speaker B: Because one of the articles in this convention state that the state must respect the rights and responsibility of parents to provide guidance which is appropriate to their evolving capacity. So when I hear you, I mean, you talk about it, these statistics, and you talk about some of the challenges children are facing. The question we need to raise now is why are we like this 72 years later, after, you know, after the law has been changed. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:19:47] Speaker B: It still doesn't recognize and give our primary responsibility to the child, you know. [00:19:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:19:52] Speaker C: Wow. [00:19:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:19:53] Speaker B: You know, it still doesn't, you know, the way the law is written. And I said It. And maybe this is why I was Blackballed for about 22 years. [00:20:00] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:20:01] Speaker B: You know, because when I compared it with what we agreed to internationally, I wouldn't even use it in its present state to protect dogs in the van. Wow. And if we were to borrow the laws that they use to protect animals in the US and just move the word animals and put children. [00:20:22] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:20:23] Speaker B: Children would be more protected. [00:20:24] Speaker A: That is a powerful statement. Cleaver. Thank you as always for your contributions. But I, I love talking to you and hearing you on the radio because it's clear you have been in this space, researched this and been fighting for rights of fathers for a long time. So I certainly appreciate your conversation. Hopefully you and Garth can. Me and Garth can have you in studio probably on one of our Sunday show where we can ventilate this issue a little bit better. But thank you for your contribution. Let's go to the next caller on the line. [00:20:51] Speaker B: Call. [00:20:52] Speaker A: You're on the air with Glenn and Darvin. How are you? [00:20:56] Speaker B: How you doing? [00:20:56] Speaker A: I'm fantastic. [00:20:58] Speaker B: Yeah. I love the topic of the show today. Right. Because this is a very needed topic because it was going on in the nation today. You realize why a lot of people nowadays go to jail. [00:21:10] Speaker A: Yes, sir, Go ahead. [00:21:11] Speaker B: A lot of people go to jail nowadays, right. Because life outside of jail has caught up to life inside jail. What I mean by that is, right. You realize that in prison, right, you get three meals a day actually. Restaurant cooked food, rice, pork chop. Right. [00:21:29] Speaker A: Wow. [00:21:29] Speaker B: A lot of these kids nowadays don't know how they can get one piece of meat. So the problem is, right, these people are scared to die. They scared to live. Wow. [00:21:43] Speaker A: You know, one of the. [00:21:44] Speaker B: One more time. [00:21:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:46] Speaker B: The children and the plants scared to die. They're scared to live. So government policies are not here to change the mindset and heart of individuals that change policies. That's for the church, the schools and the parents, not for the government. The government is not designed to change mindsets. That's why we're having this problem today. We depend on the government to solve the problems where the community needs to solve the problems. Because certain things are set in design. Church are set designed to change mindsets and hearts of individuals. Schools are created to design, to train children into a different type of mindset, not government. Are we leaning on the government to do these things where they're actually not designed to do? [00:22:33] Speaker A: That's such a true statement, my friend. Thank you for your contribution as always. Love, love that we are going to take our first break of the show today. And when we get black, I'm going to talk to Glenn about what his thoughts are on that mindset issue that the last caller mentioned to see if we can find a solution to this issue. We'll be back on Guardian Radio after this break. [00:23:05] Speaker B: When it comes to Hearts at Cleveland Clinic, you can't miss a beat. You seek the best care possible, work with the brightest minds and leave no stone unturned to get to the heart of the matter because understanding is always the first step to overcoming for every heart in the world. See how we're advancing the future of heart care at Cleveland Clinic today. Don't settle for ordinary when you can have the Farmhouse King only a sink your teeth into 100% flame grilled beef stack with crisp bacon, melty American cheese, crispy onions, a fried egg and the boom sauce that adds the perfect kick for a flavor sensation fit for a king. Grab the Farmhouse King as a combo with fries and a drink or go all in with the Farmhouse Kings feasted bigger, it's better. And it's only at Burger King Nassau. Running low on summer funds. [00:24:08] Speaker A: Squeeze every drop of fun out of. [00:24:10] Speaker B: Your summer with a Fidelity personal loan. [00:24:12] Speaker A: From backyard upgrades to family getaways, Fidelity. [00:24:15] Speaker B: Is here to help. Call 356-7764. Today fidelity were good for you. [00:24:39] Speaker A: Good afternoon, Bahamas. We are back. You are listening to Guardian today. I am your host today, Darvin Russell, substituting for Brother Garth. And in studio with me today is Mr. Glen Rule. And we were talking with the caller who mentioned that he felt as though the mindset of the people and I. [00:24:59] Speaker B: Can. [00:25:01] Speaker A: I couldn't agree with him more. You know, I this problem is so vexing. But one of the things as we were driving up brother Glenn, we were talking about is you have to make sure that there is balance to conversation and also make sure that your individual lived experience experience does not get extrapolated across the whole population if that isn't what everyone is experiencing. The great thing I like about our callers one is that it's men calling. So that means it resonates with them because they are either personally experiencing it or even on the fringes experience the impact of this challenge that we're having with our children. And the men are particularly crying out about parental rights, their issues around where we stand as a society and the effects of us as men, either not parenting well in some cases or not even being given access to parent well. What were your initial thoughts on what some of the callers were mentioning? [00:26:06] Speaker C: Well, like again, you and I mentioned, and we're having this conversation. So there is a reality today these in. In various pockets. Cleaver Duncan, for an example, has been at this for as long as I knew him. [00:26:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:19] Speaker C: And continue to be an advocate in. In that regard. And to hear him say there are yet fights that still need to be had, it speaks to it. [00:26:27] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:28] Speaker C: You mentioned the boy fact of it. You know, that society seems to be bent towards putting in place the things for the girls, the little ones, et cetera, et cetera, while at the we frame shape boys is another aspect of the story. Notwithstanding we have a communal responsibility to sort of carved out how children should be, should be directed. I would kind of push a little bit back from the caller, the last caller, in terms of governmental responsibility. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:27:00] Speaker C: Dr. Miles uses in this phrase, he says, you know, by law you get to help shape culture and direction. And so I understand while there may be some thought as to how you go about doing that, but the purpose or the intent of a law is to bring about a certain way of life, is to bring about a certain result. And I do think the law becomes an important element when, especially in our case, when you have other faculties that fall short. For example, you know, we no longer have what we call ideal family of husband, wife, mother, father. So that's no longer the predominant part of how we look at family. Churches, in a lot of ways, have come under rightful scrutiny in the context of defining its role. And so when you have these initial breach, you know, the society and the whole then rely even more on. On the kind of thoughtful, deliberate legislation that will help to at least hold the wave until such time as we could bring about wholesome families, et cetera, et cetera, to the point where we return to what we refer to as it takes a community, a village. And that's true also in the context of the family as an institution, the church as an institution, and of course, the government as an institution. And so all of these things, I believe, goes hand in hand in terms of how do we deal with these crisis. And so when you have, for an example, this report coming from a government department in itself tells you that government has what it takes. Our taxes are paid in those arenas. They have the capacity to bring all stakeholders around the table. So where there's this crisis, families not necessarily can do it. Church may have lost its salt in that regard. So we rely on the government, rightfully so, at this stage, to say, hey, we have a national crisis, it requires all of us. But by the fact that we give them a vote, our taxes means that we place on them an expectation that in the face of all of these ills, to bring us to a place where we can function again in wholeness, in the context of family or church. [00:29:20] Speaker A: Fantastic contributions as usual. The thing, Brother Glenn, as I, as I listen to this almost avalanche of challenges that it seems as though our children are having. You know, I'm also struck by a portion of this report that talked about how the parents themselves have almost withdrawn from parenting. And it's very disturbing. One of the. It said that by 2023, the percentage of parents routinely monitoring homework had plummeted to 30.5%. And 50.2% of teens indicated that their parents rarely or never paid attention to their homework. Additionally, 37.2% of teens stated that their parents or guardians never or rarely knew what they were doing during their free time. We have almost a complete disintegration to your point of what we grew up as normal of our traditional family structure. So when I think about that being the problem, I wonder, how do you now connect the dots? Because just because it's changed doesn't mean one, that the change was good. We can see from the results that it was not. But it also doesn't mean, I think, to try and have a disproportionate association with the days of old, as though we could not develop a new model of what our households or parenting relationships could look like. They may not look like mommy and daddy, they may look like uncle, pastor, neighbor, friend, community. Right? Yeah, they may look like that, but it will still mimic the benefits of the traditional family structure. And I think we need to stop abdicating our responsibilities as a village because we are receiving the backlash or the, the deleterious effects from us not parenting our children well. So next caller. Caller, you are on the air. You're listening to Guardian Talk Radio. [00:31:45] Speaker B: Oh, yes, sir. Yeah, sorry. I'd like to chime in on this topic about the homework right situation. [00:31:50] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:31:50] Speaker B: With the homework situation is that most parents really want to help their kids. Guess what? Have you ever seen or looked at an 8th grade or 7th grade homework assignment? [00:32:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I have. You can't do it, right. [00:32:05] Speaker B: You have an above average intelligence level. Intelligence. [00:32:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:32:11] Speaker B: It's incredibly difficult. Think about it. You work hard all day long, you put up with all type of BS on the job, you're really tired, then when you reach home, right. To do the homework, which you really can't understand. So it isn't that they don't want to help Theirs, they really don't know how to do it. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a real talk, my brother. I appreciate that contribution. [00:32:31] Speaker B: Let's. [00:32:32] Speaker A: Let me tell you something, what's so funny about his commentary, right, Is I was listening to a comedian the other day and they were talking about, you know, how their, their kid must have been in seventh grade or whatever, came and brought this like, like new math to them. And the parent was like, look, I didn't even understand the old math when it was in place, much less this new math the kids are dealing with today. But he is right. But I'll tell you the story. So those of you know that Ben Carson is a famous American pediatric neurosurgeon. And he tells this story as a part of his biography and experience growing up. And he said his mom was neither literate or numerate, so she couldn't read or write. He did not know that, however, when he was a child because every summer she would make him and his brother read and bring her a one page book report on what they. All she would do with that report is put a check mark on it. She was smarter than our kids. Her kids didn't even realize that their mom couldn't read. But she did that as a way of doing the best she could with her capability. So yes, maybe, maybe you might not understand the math, but as a parent you have to make sure that they're at least attempting the math problem and asking whether or not there is any homework to be done. But great contribution, caller. Next caller on the line. You're listening to Guardian Talk Radio. [00:33:58] Speaker B: Good afternoon. [00:33:59] Speaker A: Good afternoon. First lady of the day. How are you? [00:34:04] Speaker B: I'm great. As a mother of, I love hearing the man contribute. [00:34:10] Speaker A: Isn't it refreshing? [00:34:11] Speaker B: Yeah, it is, very. All the time. I just want to say two things. One, regarding the homework, okay, My son is out of school. He's a young man. Okay. He is 31. However, I knew I needed help. I was involved in ministry. I used to be, I was involved with a church. I still involved, I'm still involved in the church, but I had attended at the time, had an after school program that had the young people in the church assist the children after school with their homework. And what I didn't understand, I was able to rely on those young girls and young guys to assist my son. He went to Kingsley at the time with homework that I honestly in some cases didn't really know how to really effectively help him. [00:35:12] Speaker A: Okay. [00:35:12] Speaker B: Secondly, some of the projects that they would give to children, the children can do Those projects, I had to literally pay those young people to help my son with his project. [00:35:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Can I tell you, I have such a personal pet peeve as a parent with stuff like that. You know, I believe it's Finland, they actually don't send homework home exactly. For that very same reason. The kids are in essence do homework as a part of the classroom experience. Because I agree with you, in a lot of cases, the parents are the ones in some cases, especially in primary school, who end up doing the work. And then in high school, because you don't understand the nature of the work, you're still offloading it to some third party to assist the kid. And I agree with you. I think we have to really seriously look at the benefit of the nate and the nature of the homework that we are assigning to our children, especially in high school. [00:36:13] Speaker B: Yeah, right. Okay. This is my second concern. Okay. Family dynamics have changed a whole lot. [00:36:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:21] Speaker B: We are hearing in the news all the time, okay. You let this particular male person be in charge of your child and next thing you hear, the child gets peeled up. So scary. Why you have to be dealing with my child like this? Is a man doing it to a little boy or a man doing it to a little girl? [00:36:43] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:44] Speaker B: You know, it's ridiculous, man. We can't even trust people with our children no more. You can't even have sleepovers like that. No more. That's gone to those things. Those things are scary. No. [00:36:55] Speaker A: And as a girl, dad, you know, I'm hyper focused on this issue. I have nephews and nieces, but I'm the parent to a daughter. And so I'm deeply sensitive around areas that involve when she was that age, her safety and the men around her. And even when we go out, even Today, she's now 21. I'm very vigilant about how men are behaving around her, etc. Because as a man, I understand that language and that attitude and the way men, as my parents would say, who wasn't raised right, can act out of pocket. But we have to do a better job protecting our kids. There's no if, ands and buts about it. And I. And I. Let me commend the Commissioner of Police for what seems to be an increased vigilance around the prosecution of these kinds of cases. I must say that I have seen an uptick in cases brought against perpetrators against women and children. But thank you so much for your contribution. The lines are lit up. Continue to listen. You're on the air on Guardian Radio with Darvin and Glenn, how are you? [00:38:05] Speaker B: G and G again. Yeah, but listen man, you know, I appreciate this conversation. Clear everybody co contribution but. And the last call. Afraid to live. And they're not afraid to die. Right, but I, I, I agree with everything you said, but I, I disagree with that because everyone wants to live. A young guy doesn't even know how to live, so how could he decide if he don't want to live? Now let's look at it subsequently. When they commit an act, they don't go and hide. When somebody comes to them, they don't run. Everybody wants to live. It's just that when you're young, you're full of adrenaline and you're basically almost an idiot. So you really have no sense of, you know, you're just cocky. Then even in the animal world you'll see a young lion going to mess with an elephant. Right. But what I'm saying is I want to get this in to bring awareness to something I was always being seen on the radio. Let me make this quick. It's like we being attacked mentally, emotionally and spiritually. [00:38:58] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:58] Speaker B: And so we are in an era of digital slavery. So we don't realize that because you read a lot. Right. Russell, I want you to look at a book called the Impact of Science on Society by Bertrand Russell. Okay. Now with the digital slavery, they don't need an overseer, they have algorithms to watch us now. So just some data coming in from the States. They said about 70% of the black students, a student scan read a grade level. With the advent of the social media and technological advancement, which is really designed to distract and entertain us with the girls tweaking all the BS you see on the social media. I call it anti social media. [00:39:35] Speaker A: Yes sir. [00:39:35] Speaker B: So if you're entertained, you, you can't be properly educated. [00:39:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:39] Speaker B: And so the guy who was calling guy didn't talk about the family structure and the family structures collapsed and people are talking with him and all that, but he's actually correct. So, so, so, so we are under attack in a psychological warfare and digital slavery and we must realize that. And so as long as we are willing to be distracted, then that's the way the world will be moving and that's just the way it is. [00:39:58] Speaker A: So social media has given us more fake friends and less human interaction. [00:40:03] Speaker B: Yeah, but it also puts peer pressure on the youth. So I said that because you said something that I think I read that story in which the young man was interacting with AI. [00:40:13] Speaker A: Yes. [00:40:14] Speaker B: So and the gentleman who called and spoke about the children afraid to live. He also mentioned that we allow these phones to babysit the children. We do, and so hence the problem. But you see, talk about the great school level work. But if you have the Internet, you can also use that to help you understand anything that you don't. So I don't buy into it that you can't understand what you mean you can't understand. If you are relentless, then about understanding something, won't you understand it. You think when you did O levels or you think you read something. But I grasp it, Mr. Russell. [00:40:42] Speaker A: Sure. [00:40:43] Speaker B: Going on. And eventually it will come. [00:40:44] Speaker A: But I guess buy into you can't. What you mean by that's. But that's fair. No, but both, both contributions are valid. I think there are some parents who feel as though they aren't capable and that's okay. But hold on for a minute. My only point is to say if you can't do it directly, there are still resources, as the, as the previous caller said. [00:41:02] Speaker B: Right? [00:41:03] Speaker A: Yeah. So we don't have to be all things for our children. That also puts a different layer of pressure on parents. [00:41:09] Speaker B: Right, Exactly. [00:41:11] Speaker A: But thank you, my friend. Our lines are our lines. [00:41:14] Speaker B: Okay, go ahead with these scenarios that he's talking about. [00:41:18] Speaker A: Yes. [00:41:18] Speaker B: The more money a person has, the more resources. Yeah, that is very fair. [00:41:23] Speaker A: Thank you so much as always. One more caller. Go ahead, caller, you're. You're on the air. You're listening to Glenn and Darvin on Guardian Radio today. Go ahead. [00:41:30] Speaker B: All right, you ready for me? [00:41:32] Speaker A: Yes, ma'. [00:41:32] Speaker B: Am. [00:41:32] Speaker A: Go ahead, you're on the air. [00:41:33] Speaker B: How are you? [00:41:34] Speaker A: I'm fantastic. How are you? [00:41:35] Speaker B: Okay. I just want to make a small contribution. Certainly I don't know how valid it would be. You're talking about parents and assisting their children with their homework, right? Yes, ma'. Am. [00:41:48] Speaker A: Yes, ma'. [00:41:48] Speaker B: Am. Well, I've been around a little while. I've been on this earth a little while. Judges want to make this contribution. My mother, she was very interested individual and I attribute whatever success I've had educationally to my mother. You talked about the doctor whose mother was unable to read and write. Yes, well, my mother was able to read and write, but not at the level of say, high school. [00:42:21] Speaker A: Yes. [00:42:22] Speaker B: I was privileged to attend the government high school. And you know, when I got my homework assignment, you know, my. Especially in having to write essays. [00:42:36] Speaker A: Yes, ma'. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Am. My mother, she. And she was a working woman. We would go to bed and I get up around 2, 3 o' clock in the morning, my mother would get up along with me as I tried to write my essay. [00:42:54] Speaker A: Wow. [00:42:55] Speaker B: And in terms of my essays, I wrote more than one until she was satisfied with it. [00:43:02] Speaker A: Oh, sounds like such a present. [00:43:03] Speaker B: Mother read my essays, and to make sure we did it together, she would say, would you like to have a cup of tea? And I always said, yes, mommy. And she would make tea for both of us. And, you know, as a result, I would call myself a tea holic. And, you know, I attribute whatever academic access that I've had to my dear mother. [00:43:34] Speaker A: Well, you're gonna make me tear up in studio with that story. [00:43:37] Speaker B: What I'm trying to say is you can show and encourage your children by your physical presence. [00:43:46] Speaker A: You can. [00:43:47] Speaker B: You can sit and listen and, you know, just talk with them. [00:43:53] Speaker A: Yeah. Presence has a. Presence has value. Right. Even. Even if you can't directly contribute. That's such a great story. [00:43:59] Speaker B: That is what I. You know, in the long run. That's what I'm trying to say. So parents don't need to have inferiority complex. But I can't read and write right now. Would you believe my little grandchild? She told her mommy the other day, I'm trying to help, sweetie. She calls me sweetie. She calls me sweetie as a grandmother, I'm trying to help. I'm. I'm trying to help, sweetie. She's not technologically savvy. You know, the girl goes around. I love that. [00:44:34] Speaker A: No, that was a fantastic contribution, my dear mother. You have a. You have a great day. Yes. [00:44:40] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:44:41] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:44:42] Speaker B: Okay. [00:44:45] Speaker A: Callie, you can call back. I accidentally dropped that call, Brother Glenn. That was such a great story. You know, she. She reminds. She got me in here tearing up because that was my relationship with my grandmother. And I would spend my summers in Andrews with her. And that was the thing. Everybody knows that I was her favorite, despite what my other siblings would say. And she would wake me up at the same time, and she would bake bread and a cast iron pot on an outside stove at an outdoor kitchen. And I would get the first, like, because I like the ends. And we would have butter and tea before two hours. She would tell me stories before anybody else got up in the house. It was the most cherished of memories with my grammy. And I have to stop talking before I start balling in the studio. [00:45:31] Speaker C: Grandmothers. [00:45:32] Speaker A: That was my grandmother. Thank you for calling you on Guardian radio today with Darvin and Glenn. How are you? [00:45:37] Speaker B: Gavin and Glenn, Good afternoon. [00:45:40] Speaker A: Listen to my good people calling the radio today. How are you, brother Jeff? [00:45:43] Speaker B: Man, everything is great. Listen, I Just want to congratulate every single male father that has called into this show. Isn't this great interest in their children's education? Yes, it is so sad that society tends to downplay the role that man plays not just in family life, but in their children's lives as well. There are many fathers who are unsung heroes that spend more time with their kids, with their education, ensuring that they do their homework. But you know, society has it so skewed where it seems that only the women are paying attention to the children's education and not the men. You know, we have to find a society that is fair and balanced because there are many great fathers in this country, many great men, let me rephrase that, that do pay attention to the welfare of the children. But it's so sad they are not given their praises as the women are. And I don't want to make this agenda conversation, but I just wanted to congratulate each and every man who plays a significant role not just in the boys life, you know, but also in their daughter's life. You know, there's that balance that is struck and I think we need to now, you know, really give them the credit that they so deserve. [00:47:09] Speaker A: Fair enough. [00:47:09] Speaker B: So you know, I'm going to continue to listen. I mean all of the topics that you bring up so far between you and God are very prevalent, very important, very salient and you know, it just makes people like me look back at my parents and my education and the great job that they have done with their seven kids to make them the, the type of citizen that our country truly needs, especially at this particular time. Thank you for taking my call. [00:47:40] Speaker A: Hey Jeff, go ahead. Brother Glenn. [00:47:43] Speaker C: No much, much to to think about, Gavin. And sometimes we have to, to have this conversation in the context of what is the reality that we face and the reality that we face today is not the reality of my parents that had to deal with 11 children in that context. My father, as I mentioned to you earlier, was the one on the fishing boat. Mother learned how to take care of all of the others in that regard. There was this almost natural construct of community and family. I think you asked an important question. How do we in this era reconstruct that sense of family? What does it look like? And that's one of the reasons I said earlier to the caller that I don't think government by definition should get off so easily. Particularly they're the ones to whom significant amount of our taxpayers monies are entrusted to do certain things to help craft out what communities should look like they have the means and the wherewithal to do it. Because again, daven to the backdrop of the single parent who realized that, hey, you know what, if I don't go out to work, not withstanding me having the child, I don't go out to work, I don't have no means to support the child that I brought into the earth. And so the reality is when they come back, they may very well be tied and busted or have to get right back up. So other aspect of society have to take into account how do I feel, how do I bridge these divides? And I think that's a collective conversation that we have to have. But certainly the idea that to just shift it to one is not necessarily dealing with the reality that we're facing. [00:49:28] Speaker A: No, I agree with you. So we're probably getting ready to take a break, brother Glenn for the 1 o' clock news hour. But before we go, some questions I'd like the audience to consider our news break. What do you now having listened to this conversation for the last hour, 45 minutes or so, what do you believe are some of the causes of the issues we're facing? We've touched on some of the potential causes. And then I would ask you, what about bullying? Are your children experiencing a greater increase in bullying in school and violence in school or in their neighborhoods? Those are two of the questions I want you to ponder while we go on our break. We will be back at the end of the news. Have a great break and we'll see you soon. This is Guardian Radio 96.9 FM streaming on guardiantalkradio.com and the Guardian Radio app. Nassau Bahamas. [00:50:24] Speaker B: Now Let me see now. [00:50:25] Speaker A: 326Etic hello, hello. [00:50:28] Speaker B: This this EPIC echid battery. This Ms. Beulah from around the corner. I hear you're selling tires now on Wolf Road too. Praise the Lord. [00:50:37] Speaker C: It's about time I left Fox Hill and Fire Trail. [00:50:40] Speaker B: It's too far. That ain't all. [00:50:42] Speaker A: They open Monday to Friday, 7am to. [00:50:44] Speaker B: 7Pm on Sunday and holiday 8am to 4pm My brother Sam, he's a hacker and he could go right there and get fix up. [00:50:52] Speaker A: Call us at 326epic. We ship also to the family island. [00:50:56] Speaker B: Tired of banks forcing you to use. [00:50:58] Speaker A: Technology to bank the way they want you to. [00:51:01] Speaker B: Your convenience is important. [00:51:03] Speaker C: So no matter what your banking needs. [00:51:05] Speaker B: Commonwealth Bank's friendly staff are always available in branch for that personal one on one service. But when you choose technology, our online. [00:51:13] Speaker A: And mobile banking app offers you state. [00:51:16] Speaker C: Of the art functionality. [00:51:17] Speaker B: The choice is yours. Commonwealth bank bank the way you want. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Great news, Ronce Electric Motors new location on Cowpen Road right next to Island. [00:51:29] Speaker B: Luck is open Saturdays and Sundays. [00:51:32] Speaker A: So for those needing repairs on electric motors, generators, welding machines, water pumps, battery. [00:51:37] Speaker B: Charges, electric lifts, transformers and power tools. [00:51:40] Speaker A: Ron's Cowpen Road location can have you. [00:51:42] Speaker B: Up and running on weekends. Don't forget, you can still visit Ron's Electric Motors on Wolf Road and Claridge Road. And now Ron's new location on Cowpen Road. [00:51:50] Speaker A: Dial 356-0249 or 323-5267. This is Guardian Radio, your station for up to the minute news and intelligent, interactive and engaging conversations. 96.9 FM. And we're back. You are listening to Guardian Talk Radio. I am your host today, Darvin Russell. Joining me in studio today is Brother Glenn Roll and we are having a conversation and enjoying it thoroughly with you guys around the state of our nation's children. Before we took our one o' clock news break, I had asked you a couple of questions that I wanted you to consider while we were on break. And the two questions that I had asked is what are some of the underlying causes, you believe, of the challenges that we're having with our children? We have gone over the fact that our girls aren't safe. We have spoken at length about the state of our boys and the challenges that the boys are having. We've talked a little bit about the, the when it comes to the parenting and Cleaver brought those issues around, you know, whether it's divorce or you're fighting for custody or at least shared arrangements with your children. So the dynamic between parents within themselves as well as parents and the children. And I had mentioned the Boy Crisis, which is the book that I'm reading talking about the absence of fathers in the home. So we've gone through a gamut of potential causes for the state of, of affairs that we find in our homes across the length and breadth of this nation and right now against the world. So for those of you that want to continue to contribute, the numbers to call are 323-623-2325, 4316 and 325-4259 to our Family island listeners, 5020. And for those of you that are texting, it is 422-4796. Brother Glenn, you know, we've, we, we, we've ventilated a lot of this issue in the first hour of the show. Coming in in the second and final hour. What, what are your thoughts on what has been said so far? [00:54:18] Speaker C: Well, well, you know, again, it's a symbol symbolic of what, of what has occurred in our nation, right. And so I, I do believe when you fall off track, then you got, you got at least sort of go back to where did we go off track, right? How do we get back on track? And I believe it is found in, and I reference Lyndon Pinland in this context that some years ago while in office, he called for what was then known as National Youth Service, right. And that National Youth Service, if constructed right, was meant to take care some of the things, things that we are facing today. And so I do believe, notwithstanding a generation is basically passed, that we still have to see if we can find the resolve, given the degree of the challenges, to undertake some form, some shape of national service. And it may include all of those variations that you talk about, right? The new construct of what family looks like, the role of education in that context, the extent to which policies, how to stare us in a certain direction, how does our businesses. And a significant part of it is we can't leave the question of prison reform out of it, right? Because a lot of these things as a result of the ongoing cycle of persons who offend, break the law, come back in society and eventually go back. So all of these things, I believe, have to be addressed. I don't think we should. I don't think we can just address it piecemeal. The question for us is, can we find a national resolve. [00:55:55] Speaker A: Yes. [00:55:56] Speaker C: To give the kind of attention and detail to what is before us and put in place in very systemic, wholesome terms these components that overall begin to at least pull us back from the brink of things so that we can begin to see what wholesome society looks like, like. And that leadership have to come from multiple spaces. The church have that context. And when I say the church, I'm not talking about particular denomination, governments. You know, you call, you call me out when we first started this conversation, my reason for even getting involved and having these conversations because I do think that policymakers have a significant role in the shaping of a nation, particularly where so many aspects of society is sort of fallen right. They have to be involved in it. And then we have to reconstruct what a commonwealth nation was meant to be. We have to be deliberate about what we left in. This is not really an advocate for societies that, you know, one may say communistic in nature or phobia in nature, but we have to define what kind of nature nation we want and how do we go about building the kind of nations and building the kind of walls that preserve who we are. Because at the end of the day, guess who are affected mostly by gates that are open? [00:57:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:20] Speaker C: Children. [00:57:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. [00:57:22] Speaker C: So. So they're the ones with who's emotionally built. They're the ones who are most vulnerable. They're the ones who. Who have a lesser sense of what direction that they want to go. They look for blue by which they can follow. And so until we find. And these platform lends itself to these kinds of conversations. But what we're doing, Davin, is that we're talking about it in fragments. [00:57:46] Speaker A: Yes. You know, agreed. [00:57:48] Speaker C: We haven't bring everyone to the table to determine what going forward would look like. And I believe that part of elections, if I could use that term, is about this national sense of where do we go from here? And both the community, the voters, those who offer themselves for public service, ought to come under the kind of scrutiny to answer these kinds of questions, having gone out of the way and said, these are our problems, now we have to find the solutions to resolve them. [00:58:19] Speaker A: You know, I do agree with you wholeheartedly. And one of the frustrations I have as a citizen of the Commonwealth is, is the ad hoc approach we take to policy and finding the right prescriptions to these problems. You know, when I was. After I graduated from college, there's a great book written by Larry Bossity. It's a business book. It's called Execution. It's an oldie, but it's a goodie. And, you know, Cleaver had mentioned during his contribution that he had worded past, but then it sat dormant for 10 years. And I think when you think about the challenges that we face as a country, it's not so much just getting the good idea. It's about the execution. And that book says if you do it wrong, it still doesn't work. You have to come up with the idea and you have to execute the plan with excellence. And I think we could take one element here, but if we don't understand the unintended consequences of that decision, we don't have a backstop for when it goes wrong. And I think your point is very valid. It's critical that we think about these solutions from all angles. Let's see what the caller has to say. Caller, you're on the air with Darvin and Glenn. [00:59:27] Speaker B: Yeah, good afternoon. How are you doing? [00:59:30] Speaker A: We're good. How are you? [00:59:31] Speaker B: I'm doing fine, thank you. And interesting conversation. [00:59:35] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:59:36] Speaker B: I was in and out. I didn't catch Duncan's contribution. But nonetheless, you all started to talk about some stuff that I also agree with because I've been talking about these things since talk show, the evolution of talk shows in the country. And in order for us to address not only the ills surrounding the challenges with children in the society, but the ills surrounding crime, the ills surrounding parenting, the ills surrounding challenges is an education with, with children and the learning. It all, it all comes back to the home, right? Because if, if you are, if, if you are exposed to a particular thing, right. And it is positive and uplifting and motivating, right. And that child who is impressionable, right. Who is 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 years of age, they have to contend with going back to the exact same environment daily with no change in that environment from the persons who are the adults in that environment, then more times than less, you will find that child ends up falling back into the same challenge. You put the programs in place to help them to get out of in the first place. No fault to a large degree of their own, except in some instances where you have some family member who is prepared to reach out or reach back and, you know, help to create a responsible environment for that child to be in. [01:01:12] Speaker A: But Anton, before you, before you continue, here's my issue. The problem that you are identifying and articulating today is a foreseeable consequence of a policy decision, right? So we know that if we take children out of a challenging environment, remove them for a period of time, common sense would indicate if we place them back in that environment where we do not remove the things that were causing stress and harm to them, how idiotic is that? If we do not create contingencies for not placing that child back in the same situation. That is my frustration. You we do not get to plead ignorance anymore as policymakers to say, oh, well, we did this good thing by creating a program only to go and place the child back in the very situation six months later when they've completed the program and wonder why their rate of decline continues or even accelerates. That is absolutely ridiculous. In 2025, you referred to, as you. [01:02:16] Speaker B: Were saying, like you and Pastor Glenn are saying, and long time, long until I passed, we had some good days. [01:02:24] Speaker C: Yes, sir. [01:02:25] Speaker B: Yes. In the Facebook evolution. [01:02:27] Speaker C: Yes, sir. [01:02:27] Speaker A: Yes. [01:02:29] Speaker B: When those policymakers didn't even appreciate the value of social media. And we saw the vision of it and it's a key factor in the political realm. But getting back to what you were saying, Russell, you know, we cannot, if we are going to, if we are going to defeat. Listen, this challenge, we cannot take an ad hoc approach. We cannot take a piecemeal approach. It has to be comprehensive. And I know in taking a comprehensive approach, the government, in particular, governments in small island developing states with limited resources, where there is a lot of resources that's going to have to be put behind dealing with all of those areas we're discussing, they're going to have to be able to reach out to the international community to get that level of support, because, believe it or not, and I'm saying y' all can identify with it, a lot of the challenges that we face in our, in our environment are being also born by pressures from the international community. You know, we have lots of challenges, whether it be illegal migration, whether it be carbon footprints, whether it be the destruction that evolves as a result of the carbon footprint from these international developing countries and the limited resources that we do have, we have. We find ourselves expensing to deal with challenges that they're creating. And so it puts us at a work. It's almost like, you know, I'll end with this radio, Russell, because there's so much more I would like to say, but none of that. It's almost like, you know, you were talking about Dr. Dava being one of the key ministers in the cabinet right now, who is actually doing a phenomenal job with the little that he has to work with, right. Putting pressure on the Bahamas to make him clean up his act regarding the necessary medical provider who has to support us or undergraduate us, but at the same time, when we produce nurses and doctors, they're being recruited and taken all over the country. Right. And so it's like, how do you survive? How do you navigate and still remain successful or still do the things necessary to benefit your people while you are still faced with the pressures and the challenges from the big brothers and the basis and who are a lot of influence and control over the outcomes that you realize at the end of the end. [01:05:02] Speaker A: Thank you, sir. [01:05:04] Speaker B: Appreciate your contribution, this conversation, your perspective, Russell, the way you bring things through, your. Your decorum and your. And your research that you put into your topic. [01:05:16] Speaker A: Thanks, Anton. [01:05:17] Speaker B: Good work. And I pray that God brings you on more, especially during this time. [01:05:22] Speaker A: Have a good day, my brother. Appreciate it. Thank you. So here's the only thing that I would say to Anton's commentary that I would have a slight disagreement with. I actually don't believe that it's a resource problem. I think within this country, I share the same viewpoint. And I think sometimes we allow politicians to frame our Challenges by using a resource constraint argument. What I think we have is a courage and a creativity problem. We don't have in my estimation, sufficient imagination and capacity around different ways to solve these problems. And this is my frustration. Brother Glenn. [01:06:06] Speaker C: Yeah. Let me share this because I think had significant opportunity. I'm not saying the window is closed, but we had the impact of Hurricane Dorian. [01:06:16] Speaker A: Yeah, right. [01:06:17] Speaker C: Freeport, Grand Rama. And that exposed some things to us with the degree to determine how do we build going forward, you know, what kind of blueprint will determine to mitigate against the challenges that we face. Right. On the heel of COVID 19 we had this global pandemic. [01:06:33] Speaker A: Sure. [01:06:34] Speaker C: If you saw the extent of which by the blink of an eye the Bahamas could find itself standing isolated. [01:06:42] Speaker A: Right. [01:06:42] Speaker C: So to me, that perhaps opened up the window should have given us an opportunity to rethink what the Bahamas was meant to be. Void off to the point of Anton's question that we lack resources. Void of international support. What kind of internal. What kind of resources we have in hand? What's in our hand? [01:07:04] Speaker B: Right. [01:07:04] Speaker C: And we sometimes refer to the Bible in this context. [01:07:07] Speaker B: Right. [01:07:08] Speaker C: What is it I can now do with five loaves and two fishes? Because these crisis exist. And I think we were too anxious to just open back up without looking at the tremendous opportunity that awaits us to say maybe there was something genius about our farm, the islands with farming. Maybe there's something genius about the difference of our island so that we can begin to create the Bahamas. That the forebearers. [01:07:33] Speaker A: Absolutely. [01:07:34] Speaker C: And all of this is directly related to a nation that builds its own wall and is sovereign then is in a better position not so much to lean on international forest, but to say because we have found ways to create for our own people, we are in a better position to ensure that the values that you have outside doesn't superimpose on the values that we have inside. But I think we've been anxious to sort of open up the gates, go back out and before you know it, we are once again continuously same cycle. When in my mind I believe we had an opportunity to reshape the Bahamas in a very different way. [01:08:10] Speaker A: I think that that's an absolute perfect assessment. You opened up this segment talking about Sir Lyndon's vision. And I actually can agree with you that I think one of the prescriptions for this problem does involve a type of national service. We can argue until the cows come home. Brother Glenn around whether or not we believe it should be mandatory or whether or not we believe it should be optional. I feel as though it should be mandatory with certain carve outs. Right. And by that I mean, look, if you are between the ages of 17 and 20 and you are not employed and not enrolled full time in a college or university, you will be participating in national service. And I will do two things. I will provide you free housing for that and I will provide you a stipend. Let's say that the stipend is the minimum wage. Oh my God, Darwin, we can't afford that. We absolutely can afford that. Thousand graduates a year. Let's say that your initial amount of enrollees, you have at a thousand persons. You extrapolate across the board that we have an unemployment rate of 8%. So let's say that that remains in the, in the population of the youth of those 5000. [01:09:24] Speaker B: Right. [01:09:25] Speaker A: So let's say 10%, that's 500 persons. I'm doubling that at 1000. A thousand people times $1000 in salary a month. We're doing simple math, people. That is a million dollars a month for a budget for salaries alone. The budget for building barracks to accommodate 1,000 people are 500 rooms or 500 apartments if you will, housing two persons per barracks. Apartment, 500 apartments. I am certain, brother Glenn, you can get built for 25 to 40 million dollars. You cannot convince me that's a one time hit on the budget. You cannot convince me that we cannot craft programs around this to remove the incentive from our most vulnerable youth during the time that we have them in national service. Whether or not you mandate that there for 18 months, for two years even until they age out at 20. By the time we get done with you at 20, you will be trained in a particular area. We won't have any issues about the employers in the Commonwealth of Bahamas talking about you're not literate or numerate or not able to work in their environment and be a competent contributing employee. We would have dealt with all of those soft and hard skills that we didn't teach you in high school. You cannot convince me that we cannot find a way in this country with the level of genius in the minds of the average Bahamian through the length and breadth of this nation to deal with this issue in a resolute kind of way. Caller, you're on the air. You're talking to Glenn and Darvin on Guardian Radio. [01:10:57] Speaker B: Glenn and Darwin, how are you, sir? Hey, what's happening? I am a Bahamian. I am not sure the proud bohemian at this point. Okay, talk to me where I should be. [01:11:10] Speaker A: Okay. [01:11:10] Speaker B: You know, I can Tell the truth. Because this Grammy boy, listen, I. I don't understand bohemians. We. We refuse Darwin to take our heads out of the sun so we can see and appreciate what is going on immediately around us. Yeah, why do we keep doing that? Why do we keep politicking for our party while Rome is literally burning? I don't understand it. Okay, let me make a contribution to the mothers. And out of all the families with children, I think it's high time that we go back to these kids under 17 and stop carrying themselves in problems that we hold. We hold some responsibility must be handed down to those that are in charge of these youngsters. Even if we can find them, give them a hefty fine and then you will see the level wayward will probably drop by more than half in this country. Somebody needs to be held responsible for those underage children getting themselves in mischief. And my next thing is Antoine, my boy. Love him. Right. But then is Anton going to be a nationalist and not a partyist? Because I go to the hospital three times a week for dialysis. [01:12:50] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [01:12:50] Speaker B: And in four years, as a matter of fact more than four years, successive governments have literally Darwin and your guest co host done nothing. Absolutely nothing. One Saturday and he finished under the next one. Yes, they do nothing. One give him all the information with the dialysis unit. Did nothing. The kitchen closed. I give them some information on the racks in the kitchen and all of that that was supposed to open over nothing. So I don't know where Antoine get from about some of these ministers doing what they supposed to do within. Literally they are. That is not true. That is incorrect. Thanks for taking Grammy point. [01:13:33] Speaker A: Appreciate your conversation, sir. Yeah. Brother Gannon, go ahead. [01:13:37] Speaker C: Yeah, no, no, I mean these are sober conversations to be had. You mentioned, for example, the, you, you, you. You're the number guy, Right. Well, we know that a part of, for example, this government intent is to spend about what, 30, $50 million in terms. And while some may say that that is needed. But let's say we were to just balance the playing field. What if we were to look at 30, $50 million in terms of making an overall investment towards carving out, whether it be a significant national youth service from a preventive measure. Imagine where the nation would be the next three to four to five years in terms of eliminating. [01:14:17] Speaker A: That's my point. [01:14:18] Speaker C: Moving from what is around us. [01:14:21] Speaker B: Right. [01:14:21] Speaker C: So there must be this approach that says, yes, deal with the existing challenge in a very, very deliberate way. Whether that be the additional courts and other stuff, but without putting in place the foundations, the infrastructure. And I just think, and this is just my personal call, if we are going to truly memorialize the legacy of the Father of the nation, let's really see to what extent we put in place what his singular vision was that was yet to be completed. And that is a national youth service. And that calls for an addition like you said, the domes and other stuff like that. Businesses need to get involved in that because it does mean for an example that if I bring in a significant amount of these young person as a part of a learning program, we'll have an apprentice thing that becomes a part of the national service. So it doesn't only take on the kind of form that people are afraid of. There's so many areas, so many discipline that we can channel the next generation. We only 7 by 21. [01:15:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:15:28] Speaker C: Is what, 400,000 or thereabouts. So we're literally talking about a certain age factor within our country. The question for us is are those things going to be on the table? Given the degree to which the minister through his report, I said these are alarming statistics. So it means we got to be deliberate about putting in place policies that safeguard our children from obesity. It means that we have to be deliberate about creating environments by which people, young people who go through crisis, have the appropriate kind of treatment or therapy or conversation. This has to be the new construct of what our overall educational governmental system should look like. [01:16:12] Speaker A: Agreed? Agreed. We're getting ready to take probably one of our last breaks for the afternoon. Time is fast escaping us. We will be back on Guardian talk Radio after these mess. Great Commission's ministries is God's storehouse. [01:16:44] Speaker B: They have been caring for the poor. [01:16:45] Speaker A: Homeless and hurting since 1987. [01:16:49] Speaker B: You are invited to support their stop and Drop program by dropping off some. [01:16:53] Speaker A: Food items in their barrels and some. [01:16:55] Speaker B: Cash in their bottles. You can donate an offering each month or pay your tithes online to create commissions through the givelify or suncash apps. Help them to shelter the homeless, feed the hungry and spread the gospel of Christ. Volunteer your service and support the Live2Give program. [01:17:12] Speaker A: Call Great Commission Ministries God Storehouse at 325-Information or Storehouse. Stop by the office on Wolf Road. Be blessed. It's time to upgrade the way you enjoy at home. [01:17:25] Speaker B: Entertainment Alive Fiber is here. [01:17:28] Speaker A: Enjoy all your favorite channels and streaming. [01:17:31] Speaker B: Apps all at lightning fast Internet speeds with affordable bundles and it's only a click away. [01:17:37] Speaker A: Visit www.AliveFiber.com to sign up now. Stay connected. [01:17:43] Speaker B: Live your life. It's good to be alive. [01:17:51] Speaker A: This week at Shoe Depot you can buy two pairs of shoes and get a third pair of equal or less. [01:17:56] Speaker B: Value at 50% off. Yes, that's right. [01:17:59] Speaker A: Buy two pairs of non net priced shoes and get a third pair half price. [01:18:03] Speaker B: No need to throw away your hard earned money. This Back to school. [01:18:07] Speaker A: Plus VAT is taking a summer break so all our shoes are VAT free. It's perfect for all those school shoe purchases, tennis and maybe something for yourself too. Stop by Shoe Depot in Golden Gates Plaza or Palmdale Plaza today and save Parents do you believe your child deserves more than the ordinary? [01:18:23] Speaker B: Are you still deciding which school is. [01:18:25] Speaker A: The best fit for your child? [01:18:26] Speaker B: At a Capron International Academy, we believe. [01:18:28] Speaker A: Every student deserves the opportunity to excel. Our dedicated teachers, caring staff, small class. 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Don't settle for ordinary. [01:19:23] Speaker B: Choose extraordinary. [01:19:24] Speaker A: Choose a Kaepern is international account or. [01:19:26] Speaker B: Hungry and on a tight budget. Don't settle. Make the only choice and head on over to Wendy's and grab a Biggie bag. Choose from a day's single classic or spicy chicken with a junior fry, regular drink and four piece nuggets for only 9.95 fat exclusive. Order one today that is made fresh especially for you when you order it. Wendy's is fast food. Done right, certain restrictions apply. Back to school just got easier At Carrie's Fabric and Uniform Store on Mackey street, we've got school shirts with official embroidered logos for RM Bailey, AF Adderley, Kingsway, Queens College, LW Young and many more. From shirts and blouses to jumpers, skirts, shorts and pants. We've got uniforms for almost every school in the Bahamas, so skip distress and shop at Carrie's today. Call us at 393-0758 or 817-0758. That's Carrie's fabric and Uniform Store, but. [01:20:25] Speaker A: Back to school shopping is a breeze. This is Guardian Radio, 96.9 FM. Fresh news, smart talk all day. And we're back. You are listening to Guardian Talk Radio on Guardian Radio at 96.9 FM. And you are in studio with me, Darvin Russell, your host, and my special guest, Mr. Glenn Roland. We are talking about the state of our children on the eve of school opening, I think, and next week, Monday. So this is the final week of our weekend that the parents have to go get them clocks and make sure the uniform, them skirts and them and them blouses are in shape. They got to be crisp, extra starch on them, on the pants of them fellas. [01:21:24] Speaker B: Right. [01:21:24] Speaker C: You used to be extra style. [01:21:25] Speaker A: I used to be extra starch. But yeah, we are having a sober conversation in studio today. [01:21:33] Speaker C: My school, Silver White. [01:21:35] Speaker B: Right? [01:21:35] Speaker A: They do. [01:21:35] Speaker C: They still. [01:21:36] Speaker A: They do, yeah. [01:21:37] Speaker C: So while you were sat, we had to be extra. [01:21:39] Speaker B: You did. [01:21:42] Speaker C: We had to walk with white without getting dirty. [01:21:45] Speaker A: Yes, indeed, those were the days. I remember them fondly. Nowadays, of course, we have our children, as we've been talking about for the last hour or so, the pressures that they are under in the advent of growing up in a social media universe. It seems though every year the access to cell phones, we give it to them earlier and earlier. You know, before it used to be a privilege. Now it's almost you put the cell phone and the tablet in their hand. [01:22:13] Speaker C: And my two hands are up. I pleading guilty. [01:22:17] Speaker A: I understand. So I wonder, brother Glenn, where do we go from here? Hopefully we can spend the last few minutes that we have with our guest talking solutions. Right? [01:22:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:22:29] Speaker A: We started off this conversation this afternoon framing the discussion around some of the findings from the Global health report. We talked about the state of our children, the fact that they are getting more obese, the fact that our daughters are unsafe, the fact that the kids are being bullied, the fact that they are challenged on every side. Sometimes the parents who have disconnected from the reality. Many myriad of challenges. And one of the solutions that you and I talked about, you had mentioned was this idea of National Youth Service. And I had offered that I would like for it to be mandatory with two exemptions, that is children that are full time in college or those children who are working full time on a job. All others should be enrolled and we provide them with a stipend. And I had proposed the minimum wage or something less than the minimum wage because the caveat to it is we are going to provide them with housing on barracks or on base or in a particular part of town. That the government owns a complex and maybe even as part of their contribution, they make sure that they keep the facility and the environment clean, et cetera, et cetera. But you can think about it almost as a transition from teenage years almost into adulthood, a rite of passage, if you will, where you give them some of those soft skills and hard skills, that they're going to need some degree of education in a specific area, but more focused on soft skills than hard skills because they could have gone to ub, they could have gone to btvi, and maybe they were not educationally up to snuff to get in those institutions. And so they get a reset even with this program. Maybe we introduce some type of GED type element to it to make sure that by the time they leave at 20, they are fit and functioning members of society with a future. And so another, another solution that I would like to offer the audience for their consideration, in my humble opinion, is to focus on the younger ones. We know statistically, the ones mentioned in the Global Health report that we began the program talking about and amplifying are the students between the ages of 13 to 17. We know that we lose, especially our boys during that age, whether it's they're going through their challenges of adolescence, whether or not this is the highest opportunity for gang involvement, whether or not this is the most acute time in their lives when their father not being the most problematic for their development, whatever it may be. I believe that we probably need to reconsider not so single sex education, but single sex instruction. So the girls and the boys may be in the same school, but not in the same classroom. Maybe the introduction of more male teachers would be another thing for us to consider. And the program that I would like to see, however, introduced for 13 to 16 year olds would be a focus more on soft skills. How do you handle conflict, for example? How do you deal with divorce? How do you handle. How do you talk to a girl? How do you. How do boys. What's the level of decorum that boys should exhibit? I think we have young men in certain places and spaces that don't approach a lady either. It's because. It's all. Because just the tone and tenor with which they speak to a young lady is off putting. So how do we get to those things? How do we deal with managing anger in our young men, which is a big precursor to violence? How do they deal with those particular matters? And another one that you could think about is how do we get them to plan for their future? And some basic principles around Financial management. Even so, those are just some of the elements that I think would go a long way in assisting us in trying to divert as many of these fragile minds and hearts away from a not so bright future. You know, I always, when my mom and I get together and chat, periodically, I say to her, successful adults are no accident, just like unsuccessful ones are. And that's because I believe we raise children to be good people, or we raise them to be bad people, or our absence allowed to take more predominance in their lives. So those are. Those are my suggestions for the policymakers, the, as you say, the church, the civic organizations to consider solutions to some of the ills that plague us. Callie, you're on the air. You're on with Glenn and Darvin. You're listening to Guardian Talk radio. Caller, you can call back. I didn't cut you. Go ahead, Brother Glenn. [01:27:31] Speaker C: No, I do think I see life and through what I call the cycles of life, that cycles are hardly reversible. [01:27:43] Speaker B: Right. [01:27:44] Speaker C: And when you have these opportunities to begin afresh, then you take advantage of those opportunities. The Bible talks about this context. He said, children are like arrows in the hands of a mighty man. And that means you must be pointed. That means you must be deliberate. That means you must be intentional. As you rightfully mention that the results we see today can be traced to the pointing of the generation before and the extent to which we would have lost the point of reference, the extent of which we lose a sense of community. Growing up in the island, you know, when Glen Rule did something wrong, that about seven, you know, I probably could use this language that was about seven cut behind for me before I get home. [01:28:31] Speaker B: Right. [01:28:32] Speaker C: And so they didn't have any telephone to call my parents, but some of my parents knew by the time I got there. So that became the eighth one that I got. And that's not advocating constant beating. The point I'm making is that there was a sense of community. And so I do believe that the Bahamas, having celebrated 50 years, should have been around the table to say, what kind of nation? Where did we go off track? How do we get back there? How do you. And it goes right back to what you said earlier. What does this new constraint, like education has to be an important. Has to be an important element of that. So I do believe that when you have our streets crying out in the manner that they're doing, when you have young men reaching age 18 and the other day with the shooting through Ridgeland Park. [01:29:18] Speaker A: Yes, yes. [01:29:19] Speaker C: That those are not just saying to you we're in a mess. Right, but how do you not use those moments? I think the other day, the person just went before the court who is responsible for the young girl. I think some place off South Beach. How do we not take these moments to say we have to put politics aside, to say we have to put this sense of, well, that's somebody else problem. This is our collective responsibility. And I do think that moments like these requires all of us to bring to the table what we have to reshape the nation. Other than that, we run the risk of seeing the report that was released even becoming more worse. And that's a sad state. If we don't use this report as a means to say this is an opportunity for us to turn it around. I don't know how to deal with it other than everybody saying this is a moment to come around the table, lay aside whatever our prejudices are. Bring the science, bring the spirituality, bring the sense of governmental policies, and let's begin to reshape what the next. What the next generation of behemoth will look like. [01:30:32] Speaker A: All right, let's go to the caller. Caller, you're on the air. You're listening to Glenn and Darvin on Guardian Radio. [01:30:37] Speaker B: Good afternoon. [01:30:38] Speaker A: Good afternoon. [01:30:39] Speaker B: How are you all doing today? [01:30:40] Speaker C: We're doing pretty well, sir. [01:30:42] Speaker B: I got you, Glenn, Philip Rose. [01:30:44] Speaker C: Yes, sir. Boy, you call me with all my name. That's that. That's that. That sound like one social service man. [01:30:52] Speaker B: This is Mr. Unstoppable. How are you doing today? [01:30:54] Speaker C: We're doing well, sir. [01:30:56] Speaker B: I'm used to hearing your voice somewhere else. [01:30:59] Speaker C: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes. I'm on with my friend, with my friend, the G and G day. [01:31:03] Speaker B: You know, I got you. You're doing a great job. I only call to let you know I listen in. [01:31:09] Speaker A: Thank you. [01:31:10] Speaker B: When you. When you don't know. People listening and checking on you. People listening and checking. So if you're doing anything wrong, they've been listening. [01:31:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:31:24] Speaker B: Specifically dealing with men. [01:31:32] Speaker A: You're breaking up. You may try to get in a better spot and call us back. Callie, you're on the air with Glenn and Darvin. Callie, you're on the air. The air. All right, so let's go to some of these text messages. Glenn. And just before you show my brother. [01:31:58] Speaker C: I was about to. If Pastor James had, you know, if his phone didn't break up, I was about to say, you should call him in and let him tell you how to raise three boys all the same age, tree school and all of those different things. [01:32:15] Speaker A: This one. This texter is responding to Cleaver's contribution. Cleaver is absolutely right. As a man, I had to take it to the courts to ask for access to my kids and not be just a financial contributor. Next text. We as a people must learn our history as black people. Slavery has done a number on us and we must heal. Love is what we need. Darvin, great show. National service needs to be up to 21 years of age. And it's an opportunity to socialize and inculcate Bahamian mores into these young people, give them a purpose nationally and make them positive contributors. I have no difficulty in increasing it there. Great contribution and perspective, Darvin. This is what I meant by digital slavery. Most children are spending too much screen time. We as older people must be mindful of the pros and cons of this technology and that it will not save humanity, but rather destroy us via social re engineering these young fragile minds. We are on the verge of a more predominantly godless world, believe it or not. And then the last text that I'll be able to read is good show. My opinion for eradicating delinquency among our black boys and girls is by incorporating training and discipline in the young adults fresh out of school. Two years of national service and after that should be properly socialized by then. And if they break the law, punishment is severe and guaranteed. No more consultants and community programs and praying because it's not working. My focus is on severe punishment if you break the law after that. Thank you, texters and callers. Let's go. Let's get these last few calls before we wrap up. Callie, you're on the air with Garvin and Glenn. [01:34:10] Speaker B: Yeah. This is the first time in the history of calling that I'm able to get you right back. [01:34:14] Speaker A: Okay. [01:34:15] Speaker B: Because it's Glenn. Glenn, I know you did something super spectacular. You were saying something. [01:34:20] Speaker C: I was about to share your story, man. I was telling gov, you know, to. To get you in a show so you could tell us how to raise three boys tree colleges and all at the same time. [01:34:30] Speaker B: You know, from K4 to the master's level, all at the same time. [01:34:35] Speaker A: I love it. [01:34:36] Speaker B: And I say it's none but the grace of God. [01:34:38] Speaker A: I know. That's. [01:34:38] Speaker B: That's all I could say. It's God and God himself. [01:34:40] Speaker C: Yes, sir. [01:34:41] Speaker A: Thank you, my brother. [01:34:43] Speaker B: Bless you, sir. Thank you all. [01:34:45] Speaker A: Have a great day. [01:34:45] Speaker C: All the best. All the best. Bishop. [01:34:49] Speaker A: Callie on the air. [01:34:51] Speaker B: So how you doing? [01:34:52] Speaker A: I'm fantastic. How are you today? [01:34:54] Speaker B: Okay, so the gentleman spoke in volumes when he said some of the children need to go into some of these programs for two years after they come out of school. But what I think is the troubled youth, when you see them at a young age becoming trouble youths, then you need to put them in an institution that gives them some military training and discipline. Because what's happening is, is that we have walked away from God's plan and a lot of them are not in the house. I am guilty of it myself personally, because I went to the United States for some time and left my children here and find a disconnect. But the reality is this, God can restore all things. [01:35:35] Speaker A: He can. [01:35:36] Speaker B: But we as men have to do something that hasn't been done in this country. I want to say it raw. A lot of leaders don't have the gall to go ahead and put some laws in place that would stop this. There's many places in the, in the world that when you break laws like drive by shooting, you almost can't get out of jail or you'll be executed. [01:35:59] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. [01:36:00] Speaker B: You understand? So the laws of this country is allowing some of these young people to continue what they do and why. And they're getting bail. If you put right now, if you put in law and you say, listen, there's no bail for five years during an investigation, these young men stop that. They don't know they can get bail out in six months. And the system does that. So what happens is the people who they hurt when they come out, they do justice their way. You see what I'm saying? [01:36:31] Speaker A: I do, my friend, I do. [01:36:33] Speaker B: So all I'm saying is we need to. We need to do some serious reinforcement. And also I think there need to be penalty, just the equal children. I appreciate delinquent fathers, because where there's no leaders in the house, children will go astray. [01:36:48] Speaker A: Thank you, sir. [01:36:48] Speaker B: That's all I got to say. [01:36:49] Speaker A: You'll have to be the last word of the day. As we say, where there is no vision, the people perish. Fantastic show, Glenn. Thank you for joining us today. [01:36:57] Speaker C: Thank you for having me. [01:36:58] Speaker A: Thank you, callers, for your contributions. As always, you kept the discourse at a very high level and I'm always proud of you guys. Until tomorrow, this is Guardian Talk Radio. You were listening to Darvin and Glenn on Guardian Today. Have a great afternoon, everybody.