St. Kitts and Nevis holds student intervention programme to combat crime, violence

The St. Kitts and Nevis government on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, hosted the inaugural Day of Interruption, a national student intervention initiative aimed at tackling crime and violence while advancing safer communities across the twin-island Federation.

The event, which saw assemblies in various schools in St. Kitts, was organized through the Citizen Security Task Force (CSTF) chaired by Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew who also holds responsibility for national security. 

The occasion saw prominent personalities and local influencers taking part in the school assemblies where they shared their inspiring stories and personal experiences to encourage students to make positive life choices. The dignitaries included, apart from PM Drew and members of his Cabinet, law-enforcement officers and local artistes. 

PM Drew urges students not to crumble under peer pressure

The prime minister was among the keynote speakers at Washington Archibald High School in Basseterre where he motivated the students.  

“I want you to always remember that you are very special. Never allow anyone to make you think you are less than who you really are,” he said, emphasizing the government’s mission to create a peaceful learning environment where students can excel and contribute to make St. Kitts and Nevis into a sustainable island state, one of his administration’s top goals.

Stressing the peer pressure factor, the prime minister advised students to withstand such challenges firmly. Acknowledging that peer pressure is real and people do bad things under that, PM Drew asked the students to resist it. 

“Do not allow anyone to ask you to do things that you should not be doing,” he said. 

What Drew said on Facebook

The PM also made a post on his official Facebook page later about his visit to the school as part of the Day of Interruption. 

“This impactful initiative brought together community leaders, law enforcement, entertainers, and business leaders to inspire students in primary and secondary schools across St. Kitts,” he said.

“By guiding our youth toward positive life choices, we are investing in a safer, more resilient future for our Sustainable Island State.”

What Citizen Security Task Force co-chair said

Isalean Phillip, senator and co-chair of the CSTF, hailed the initiative and appreciated the special presenters and community volunteers who came forward to be its part and keep the youth from the spread of violence and aggression. 

“As an objective we sought to invite persons from across different parties, persons from the criminal justice system and community leaders to feature as special guests at the different schools to help to spread the campaign message,” she said.  

“This is part and parcel of the all-of-society approach that we are taking to making sure that we can combat crime and violence in the long term as a sustainable solution.”

A similar programme is expected to be organised in Nevis soon.

Beyond 90 Day campaign

The Day of Interruption is one of the central elements of the St. Kitts and Nevis’s government’s public health approach to addressing crime and violence. It is part of the Beyond the 90 Days campaign by the Citizen Security Secretariat which was run between September and December 2024 and showed positive results such as considerable reduction in homicide.

Earlier in February, Drew spoke about the Day of Interruption saying, “We have already started beyond the 90 days. For example, we’re going to have a day of what we call a significant day. That day will just be about talking about citizen security, and so we call it a day of interruption to just go in and just highlight it so much that that would be the buzz around St. Kitts and Nevis.”

Apart from the Day of Interruption, the government also decided to hold Better Opportunity Summit, which is another pro-youth programme to follow the three-month campaign up.