Family-centered foundation says ‘Poor leadership and lack of accountability causes of youth delinquency’

July 12, 2017

GREAT BAY—Director of the Victorious Living Foundation (VLF) Dr. Nicole Francis-Cotton has blamed poor leadership at all levels of society and not holding young people accountable for their actions as two of the factors that ae contributing to youth delinquency in the country. “There is leadership lacking in our homes, leadership lacking in government, leadership lacking in practically every are of our society. When we raise the bar in terms of leadership in every sphere of our community then we will start to see changes,” Dr. Francis-Cotton told Today.
Francis-Cotton continues to advocate for mentorship as one of the solutions to this scourge. This is where selected adult mentors play an active role in the life of at risk youth, which provides support to mostly single parent homes. This is coupe with counseling of the parent and the child involved, a program Francis-Cotton’s foundation facilitated until lack of funded caused it to fold. “Mentorship is a major part and that is why when we started Victorious Living in 2002 we started with mentorship because I saw back then that there was a dire need,” she remarked. She gave an example of a young man who was part of the program who had a bad relationship with his mother. He broke his mother’s jaw and at the time people wanted him to be thrown in jail. But Dr. Francis-Cotton worked with him and his mother through the program and today he has a much improved relationship with his mother and is excelling in the service industry.
Francis Cotton also stressed that young people must also be held accountable for their actions and not be given a free pass. “When the expectation (of young people) are not raised, then they will settle for mediocre and for less. It’s really a time for challenging lots of the mindset that people have and making some real paradigm shifts and also holding young people response for their actions. When you reach a certain age we’re all accountable for our actions regardless of what may have happened in our lives,” Francis-Cotton said.
The VLF director warned that overlooking the simple things in society, such as the village raising a child concept, leads failed efforts to bring about change. “They try everything else and realize they fall short and they fall back on the same thing that was necessary, which is the village, empowering, helping to guide our children. Now you find more people wanting to do that,” Dr. Francis-Cotton said.
She stressed that discovering one’s purpose in life is the key in creating better individuals and better families and by extension more improved societies. “When a child discovers purpose, they generally do not abuse or misuse their lives or other people’s things,” Dr. Francis-Cotton noted.