Cell phone addiction sparks teen’s runaway

Jan 23, 2018 News

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Even as child rights advocates continue to make the call for the swift elimination of the wandering charge, there are some individuals who have stated with conviction that this avenue must remain a staple in the society.
Among those who have embraced this ideology are members of a family who are convinced that one of their young members has adopted a wayward approach to life.
Speaking to this state of affairs yesterday was Ms. Candacy Butters, the aunt of a 15-year-old schoolgirl who not only failed to turn up to school on Friday but has since decided not to return home.
According to Butters, because of the wayward attitude of her niece, Destiny Wilson, her mother was long advocating for her to be sent to “Girls School” which is officially named the New Opportunity Corps [NOC].
According to Butters, the child’s father [Butters’s brother], who is a boat captain residing in Suriname, said he was unwilling to have his daughter end up in the care of the state. He moreover requested that his mother, Patsy Barnwell, take on the role of his daughter’s guardian.
Wilson, a student of Houston Secondary School, has for more than a year been residing with her paternal grandmother at Lot 1921 20th Avenue, Diamond New Scheme, East Bank Demerara.
Butters noted that other than an addiction to the use of cellular phones, her niece has been usually well behaved since moving to Diamond. But there was some inkling of things not being right.
“If you leave your phone down, she would thief it and hideaway sheself and deh pun it all the time,” said Butters
Things came to an alarming head Friday [January 19, 2018] when Wilson failed to turn up at school.
Butters disclosed that family members became concerned when the teen failed to return home by 17:00 hours. Worried, family members started to check with each other to ascertain the child’s whereabouts but soon found that they were getting nowhere.
This led to them filing a missing person’s report at the Diamond Police Station.
But according to Butters, family members are convinced that the child’s disappearance is directly linked to a decision to confiscate her phone. “Mommy [Patsy Barnwell] does cook and sell, so she get up around 4 o’clock Friday morning. When she push Destiny’s bedroom door to check on she, she see she on the phone and she tek it away,” Butters revealed.
Not familiar with the cellular technology, Butters said that “[her mother] tek the phone and give it to me li’l sister; she does live downstairs…when me sister run the phone is suh the messages with the men and the boys them coming up…”
“Bad, bad stuff,” was how Butters described several text messages found in the teenager’s phone. In fact, she said that Wilson in a text to one of her male contacts revealed her plan to “run away”.
It was at this point that efforts were made to check the teenager’s room where her school books were found tucked away under her bed and some of her clothes were missing.
While checks with most of the contacts in her phone said they knew nothing of the teenager’s whereabouts, the family said that they have since got word that the teenager has been on the seawalls and reportedly headed to Mahaica since leaving home.
“One person tell we that she say she not coming back home and the only thing could mek she come back is if she father come for she,” said Butters.
But Butters is convinced that if her niece was to experience the legal penalty for her actions she just might be willing to change her ways. Even as she considered that her niece might be oblivious to the dangers lurking in society, Butters said, “I hope she will come back home safely.”
Persons knowing the whereabouts of Destiny Wilson are asked to make contact with the nearest police station or family members on 699-5912, 682-3402, 670-3657 or 661-1569.
Meanwhile, organisations such as the Rights of the Child Commission [RCC] have been calling for the charge of wandering to be abolished. Just last year, Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of the Commission, Mr. Amarnauth Panday, said of the wandering charge “it is an obnoxious charge and it should be abolished forthwith.”
Panday is of the belief that the wandering charge is one that oftentimes stems from a child being the victim of an abusive and neglectful environment. “They [children] are criminalised and incarcerated coming from such a situation,” said Panday.
But the RCC has not been alone in this call to swiftly abolish the wandering charge. The Women and Gender Equality Commission has also amplified a similar stance.
Statistics has shown that the majority of children who are housed at the NOC in Region Two are there for wandering.
According to Women and Gender Equality Commissioner, Ms. Nicole Cole, a survey that was conducted found that about 70 percent of the residents of NOC are there for wandering.
NOC is said to be a juvenile facility that offers psycho-social support to youths in order to help them improve their self-esteem and self-worth in preparation for their return to society.
The Juvenile Justice Bill which was long slated to be tabled in the National Assembly is supposed to have a provision to ensure that juveniles should no longer be charged with wandering.

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