Rotary Sunrise Grand Cayman is a proud sponsor of the Clifton Hunter High School Year 8 Youth Crime Prevention Day. The October 22 event was organized by YouthACT Anti-Crime Trust.
The theme of the day was “Lose Your Freedom.” The seminar area was placed in “lock-down” and a Prison Officer from the Prison system here in Cayman acted as Commander of the Day over her “prison.”
At the start of the day the students were told they were in the custody of HMP Northward Prison Officers and Officers of the Royal Cayman Islands Police, all of whom were out in force. Students were accompanied everywhere by both a police and prison officer. They were expected to obey the rules of the prison including remaining in line as they transferred between sessions, no cell-phones, being tidy and no hands in pockets lest they were concealing something illegal!
Students rotated through a series of sessions that included Guns and Offensive Weapons, The Role of a Police Officer, Sexual Trauma, Life of Drugs and Crime, Effects of Drugs and Alcohol, and Dangers of Gangs and Bullying. All of these sessions
were hands on and interactive and involved role playing that saw participants role-playing as police offices reading an offender their rights and placing them inhandcuffs and simulations to replicate the effects of alcohol on one’s ability to be rationale.
Former drug addicts, who served time in jail as well as former convicts shared their experiences including what a life in prison is like. It is hoped the experiences the young people had will help them make better choices when faced with peer pressure and other difficult choices.
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