Reporter
carisa.lee@cnc3.co.tt
Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon has praised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Government for the recent increase in traffic fines, as well as the introduction of age limits for alcohol usage, marijuana consumption and gambling.
“I want to commend the Government of Trinidad and Tobago under the leadership of our Prime Minister, who has done a few things recently that really have piqued my interest ... The discipline around driving, you might look at it as harassment, making money, this or that,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of the Samaritan Movement at Archbishop’s House, Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Gordon said he views the tougher penalties as an important lever for nation-building.
“We have become an indisciplined society, and pushing that lever has forced all of us to come to discipline in a very different way,” he said.
Gordon raised the issue during a panel discussion on suicide and self-harm among young people, after clinical psychologist Isolde Ali Ghent revealed that between 2020 and 2025, Childline recorded 1,500 calls and messages related to self-harm and suicidal ideation, mostly from youths aged 12 to 17.
Gordon warned that social media may be even more harmful to young people than alcohol and gambling and suggested implementing restrictions similar to those applied in Australia.
In December last year, as part of an amendment to the Online Safety Act, Australia passed and enacted a law that prohibited children under the age of 16 from holding social media accounts on major platforms. The goal of the law is to protect children from online harms, such as cyberbullying, harmful content, and other risks associated with algorithm-driven social media use.
Under Australian law, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australian children younger than 16. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are exempt.
As a result, social media companies have deactivated, restricted, or revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to Australian users under 16.
“They’ve created it to be addictive. And I think following Australia, and many countries are looking at that now, we should be looking at a law to protect our children from social media the same way we’re protecting them from alcohol,” the Archbishop said.
“I am not talking about doing censorship for the nation. I’m saying, let’s protect our children. Then we could do, like we did with alcohol, we could have a premium package of internet that you have to be age-appropriate to sign into,” he added.
He also warned that pornography is a major national emergency, particularly for young boys. He said children are being exposed as early as eight to 10 years old, which he believes harms their mental development and self-image.
“Their bodies aren’t even ready to understand what is happening. And their minds are not ready to understand this stimulation, which is creating major havoc in the development of our children,” he said.
Gordon urged the Government to protect children from pornography and social media, similar to the way they plan to protect them from alcohol.
He said children are suffering from loneliness, isolation and poor self-esteem and believes a ban on social media and pornography could help reduce these issues. Gordon also noted that schools are overwhelmed and need at least three to four times more social workers to support students.
ChildLine provides free, confidential support for children and young people up to age 25, available 24/7 at 800-4321 or 131.
The Samaritan Movement is a national trauma-response initiative commissioned by the Archdiocese of Port-of-Spain. The movement will convene mental health experts, educators, and faith leaders to address the mounting evidence of trauma and self-harm in our schools, the long-term cost of inaction on families, classrooms, and communities, and the Church’s role as a bridge of hope and a centre for healing.
Programme manager Darrion Narine said in a small sample of 48 students, 40 per cent reported thoughts or behaviours of self-harm. This is not just a statistic; these are sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters.
“Every school we visited this past year had students in visible distress, some crying out for help, others silently suffering. Teachers and principals are overwhelmed and exhausted,” he said.
He said without urgent intervention, this wave of trauma and hopelessness will deepen.
“We cannot afford to wait,” he stated.
