I now live and work here in Jersey and I must say that what I read in the article (JEP 15 July) ‘Park-keepers to tackle antisocial behaviour of drinkers’ made me feel great sadness, disappointment and shame.
I guess the article refers mainly to residents of the nearby homeless shelter and other people with alcohol addiction rather than the people that, as I often see on the weekends, drink more than is appropriate and also show some anti-social behaviour.
The article explains that the drinkers ‘will be moved on’. Moved on where? I wonder. Some of them are homeless – is the shelter open for them during the day? Do the parish hall or the States of Jersey offer them any alternative option or social support?
I would also say that, behind each one of those unique people, or ‘drinkers’ (they are not described anywhere in your article as ‘people’), there is often a long history of loss and emotional, physical and psychological suffering. No one chooses to live this way unless you have lost too much in life, including, many times, your self-esteem and own respect. And please also believe me that it is really difficult to maintain ‘social’ behaviour when you feel only ‘social’ rejection and disapproval from the majority of the people who pass you by. These people are part of the same society in which we all – including myself – live.
Repression is not the solution. It never is. It never works. We all know that deep inside. It is an old-fashioned, ineffective and, for me, shameful way of trying to solve things.
Have any other alternatives been seriously studied or proposed? Do they have any other place to go or stay? Is there any low-requirement day centre for people with addiction and/or mental illness for them to receive support and professional intervention if they need it, as there are in many other places around the world?
I am also thinking of the example that we will be giving to the younger ones: is repression really the tactic that we want them to learn in situations like this? We should show our children a respectful, humane and person-centred approach instead.
