Students from the Victoria Educational District participated in a walk-a-thon on Thursday calling on young people to engage in sports as an alternative to criminal activity.The walk-a-thon took place through the streets of San Fernando and was attended by students from more than 80 schools in the Victoria district.Holding up placards which read: Do Sports, Not Crime, Sports Yes!, Crime No! and Stop Crime Now! the students marched up Coffee Street, down Cipero Street, on to Independence Avenue, via Sutton Street, before gathering at Skinner Park, San Fernando.
In an interview, School Supervisor 11, Vincent Graham said the initiative was part of a wider effort to reduce crime in T&T.He said the theme of the walk-a-thon was "Play Sports and Stop Crime.""What we are trying to do is to create an awareness on the issue of crime so that we can senda clear message to the rest of T&T that we should engage ourselves in sports rather than crime," Graham said.He said over the past few weeks, students had been collecting donations from the business community.All proceeds, Graham said, would be used to host the Victoria District Sports Games.He said the ministry officials organised a poster and banner competition for all students as a means of discouraging them from engaging in crime.