A call to St. Maarten's youth: One mistake does not have to define your future

I want to speak directly to the young people of St. Maarten, especially our young men.

Some of you may believe that carrying a gun earns respect, that participating in a robbery makes you powerful or that quick money is easier and more rewarding than honest work. None of that is true.

Real strength is not found behind a weapon. Real respect is not earned by making people afraid. Real success cannot be built on the pain, fear or loss of another person.

Every robbery affects more than the person or business that was targeted. Every shooting reaches beyond the family that loses a loved one. Violence damages the confidence people have in our country and weakens the same economy that must provide jobs and opportunities for our young people.

When businesses no longer feel safe, they hesitate to invest. When visitors feel uncertain, they may choose another destination. When employers are struggling, they hire fewer people. Crime therefore helps to destroy the very island that must provide your future.

St. Maarten belongs to you too. Protect it. Respect it. Build it. Do not help to tear it down.

For those who may have already made a wrong decision or started moving down a dangerous path, your story does not have to end there. One mistake does not have to define the rest of your life.

Reach out before the prison cell. Reach out before the courtroom. Reach out before your family is forced to stand beside your grave.

Speak to your parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, coaches or mentors. Find someone who genuinely wants to see you succeed and tell that person what you are going through. There is no shame in asking for help. Sometimes the greatest act of courage is admitting that you need guidance.

Government must also accept its responsibility. We cannot ask young people to make better choices while failing to provide them with better opportunities.

We must continue investing in education, skills training, entrepreneurship, mentorship, sports, tourism, technology, agriculture and the creative industries. Young people need legitimate paths that offer hope, purpose and a real opportunity to build a life.

The Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication stands ready to work with the Ministries of Justice, Education and VSA, as well as churches, community organizations and the private sector, to help create more of those opportunities.

Government, however, cannot make the final decision for you.

You must choose education over crime. Choose discipline over destruction. Choose hard work over easy money. Choose purpose over violence. Choose a future that makes your family proud.

The work of building confidence in St. Maarten belongs to all of us.

Businesses invest where there is confidence. Visitors travel where there is confidence. Families build their lives where there is confidence. Young people dream where there is confidence.

Government has a role, but so does every parent, teacher, church, business owner, community organization and resident. Our young people must also recognize that they are not simply waiting to inherit St. Maarten. They are already helping to shape it.

This island has invested in you. Now I am asking you to invest in your island.

Protect it. Respect it. Build it. Lead it.

The St. Maarten we build today will become the St. Maarten our children inherit tomorrow.

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