Dear young people of Antigua and Barbuda,

This letter is for you.

Not because you are the problem, but because you are the future. Not because society has given up on you, but because Antigua and Barbuda cannot afford to lose you. Not one more son. Not one more daughter. Not one more promising life buried before it has truly begun.

There is a simple sentence that must become a national mantra:

Before you shoot, think.

And another one must follow it:

Think: you can decide.

Think before anger becomes blood. Think before pride becomes prison. Think before one moment destroys two families: the family of the victim and the family of the shooter. Think before a gun makes a decision that your heart, your mother, your father, your teachers, your community, and your future would beg you not to make.

Antigua.news has reported too many stories that should make this country stop and reflect: shootings, murders, violent robberies, young people pulled into gangs, families left grieving, communities left afraid. Recent crime figures reported by police showed that even where overall crime declined, gun-related incidents and aggravated robberies rose, reminding us that the most violent crimes still demand urgent attention.

But this is not only a police problem. It is not only a court problem. It is not only a prison problem.

It is a national wound.

Police Commissioner Everton Jeffers was right to warn that Antigua and Barbuda risks losing an entire generation to violence if the country fails to act. He pointed not only to crime, but to systems failing at home, in schools, and in communities. That warning must not become just another headline. It must become a turning point.

Yes, we must invest in the police.

Yes, we must strengthen police numbers, equipment, vehicles, radios, maritime surveillance, intelligence, and technology. Yes, CCTV cameras, drones, and modern surveillance tools can help identify criminals, deter violence, and support faster responses.

But cameras can record a shooting. They cannot teach a young man why he must not pull the trigger.

Police can arrest a suspect. They cannot, alone, rebuild a broken child.

A prison can punish a crime. It cannot, by itself, give a young person purpose.

That is why this battle will never be won by force alone. It will never be won only by tougher laws, more patrols, longer sentences, or better cameras. Those things may be necessary, but they are not enough.

We need a national campaign against violence led by institutions, schools, churches, sports clubs, community groups, families, media houses, artists, business leaders, and trained educators. We need a campaign that enters classrooms, playing fields, homes, bus stops, social media feeds, youth centres, and the streets.

A campaign that says clearly:

Before you shoot, think.
Think: you can decide.
Your life is worth more than a gun.
Your future is bigger than a gang.
Your name can mean more than fear.

We need capable educators. Not only teachers who deliver lessons, but adults who can reach the young person who has already stopped listening. Adults who know how to speak to anger, shame, trauma, poverty, rejection, and frustration. Adults who can teach conflict resolution, emotional control, respect, responsibility, literacy, discipline, and hope.

We need schools that do more than react after violence happens. We need prevention inside the timetable: anti-violence education, peer mediation, mentorship, counselling, sports, music, technical skills, entrepreneurship, digital training, and real pathways into employment.

The National Youth Parliament has already warned that youth violence is an alarming concern and has pointed to the lack of community sports and recreation as a serious gap after school hours. That gap must be filled. Empty time becomes dangerous time when there is no guidance, no opportunity, no safe place, and no purpose.

Take young people off the streets by giving them somewhere better to go.

Give them workshops, apprenticeships, sports leagues, music studios, coding labs, farming projects, marine training, construction skills, hospitality training, small business grants, mentorship, counselling, and second chances. Give them alternatives that are concrete, not slogans. Give them opportunities they can see, touch, join, and use.

Because when a young person has a future, violence loses some of its power.

To the young man holding a gun, or thinking about holding one: that weapon is lying to you. It tells you that you are strong, but it makes you a target. It tells you that you are respected, but it makes people fear you, avoid you, and mourn you. It tells you that you are in control, but the moment you fire, you may lose control of the rest of your life.

Before you shoot, think.

Think of your mother getting the call. Think of your little brother hearing your name on the news. Think of your child growing up with you behind bars. Think of the person in front of you, who may be someone’s father, sister, son, daughter, friend, or only hope.

Then think again.

Think: you can decide.

You can decide to walk away. You can decide to call someone. You can decide to put the gun down. You can decide that your life will not be written by rage, bad company, quick money, or one reckless moment.

And to the leaders of Antigua and Barbuda: do not ask young people to choose a better road if we have not built that road.

Do not tell them to leave the streets if there is no field open, no training place available, no mentor present, no job pathway, no counselling, no safe space, and no adult ready to guide them. Responsibility must be personal, yes. But opportunity must be national.

The young people of Antigua and Barbuda are not disposable. They are not statistics. They are not lost causes. They are our hope. They are our future.

Every dollar spent on prevention is a dollar spent on national security. Every trained educator is a crime-fighting asset. Every after-school programme is a shield. Every apprenticeship is an alternative to the gang. Every mentor is a possible life saved.

Let this be the campaign: in every school, on every radio station, on every social media platform, in every village, in every community centre, in every church, in every sports club.

Before you shoot, think.
Think: you can decide.

Antigua and Barbuda must fight crime with law enforcement, yes. But it must also fight violence with education. It must fight gangs with opportunity. It must fight hopelessness with purpose. It must fight fear with community. It must fight the gun before the gun is lifted.

Dear young people, this country needs you alive. It needs your talent, your strength, your ideas, your courage, your music, your business, your leadership, your hands, your mind, your future.

Do not surrender your life to a trigger.

Think.

You can decide.

Ambassador Dario Item