Dr Sana Zahid and husband Dr Salar Davr with children Zamark, Zatik and Zarar.

‘Give young people resources, give them something positive to do with their time’

Psychiatric unit doctor and mother-of-three says there is a major need for additional recreational and community facilities to curb anti-social behaviour in Bettystown

A BETTYSTOWN doctor has spoken out about the need for more resources for young people in the area saying that she knows first hand through her line of work how vital community interaction is for developmental well being.

Dr Sana Zahid, who works in the psychiatric unit in Our Lady’s of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is a mother-of-three, says giving young people the opportunity to engage in the community gives them the best chance to become well rounded human beings.

Dr Sana’s comments follows local residents’ plea for more activities for children in the seaside town including a community centre and a second playground.

The Bettystown mum who lives in Dun Eimear estate, also highlighted that despite both she and her husband working as doctors through the pandemic they were unable to secure childcare places for their children who have been on waiting list for local crèches for over three years due to high demand.

Speaking about the importance of young people integrating into the community, Dr Sana said:

“The small basic things that we learn from childhood, when we go into the playground, basic manners, turn taking, sharing, showing that community spirit tidying up after yourself is so important.

“Once they don’t have resources, once they are not going out, especially when they reach an age they are going out without any supervision then you will see a lot of anti-social behaviour developing in teenagers who didn’t have a social outlet as younger kids.

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“Children who might have been socially isolated it is possible that in later years they may not show that much empathy as compared to kids who have been involved in community activities.

“There are some genetic factors for anti-social personalities but the development, the upbringing, the circumstances around your growth at home as well as in the community they are all very important.”

Sana says that there has been some opposition to the idea of a playground in the area for fears it would attract anti-social behaviour.

“You are not giving children enough opportunities if there is only one playground in Bettystown and only one in Laytown it’s such a big area that you are looking at.

“The nearest playground is a 25-minute walk away. There is a smaller one is on an estate called Cois Na Mara but because the link road between the two estates is not opened yet by the time you get there it is a 40-minute walk, along with this we have no community centre or youth club.

“Give young people resources, give them something positive to do with their time. These kids are doing their anti social activities because they have no positive thing to look forward to, they have no community involvement.

“If we don’t tackle the issue at this stage, when they are young it will spiral out of control.”

The Bettystown doctor says the family has also struggled to find childcare and a GP due to oversubscription.

“Both of us working as doctors during the pandemic we couldn’t find crèche places for our kids. In three years only one place came up in a local crèche and they could only take one child and we have three.

“I think there are only two crèches in the whole area who take kids under two, my youngest is one now so we had no choice other than to have someone come into our home and take care of them.”

“We contacted eight GPs and eventually got registered with the ninth one because we knew him. Looking for a routine appointment you could be waiting anything from two to three weeks because they are under so much pressure.

“I’ve already put my one-year-old on the school waiting list and there are 80 children ahead of him and there are only 50 places so there is the worry if he is going to get a place.”

Castlemartin resident and dad of one Owen Connolly took action two years ago identifying a potential site for a playground inviting two local councillors to view and organised a petition calling for Meath Co Council to build a second playground but nothing came to fruition.

“The area which includes Laytown, Bettystown, Mornington and Donacarney, you have in excess of 10,000 houses and 10,000 more houses planned. There are two playgrounds. One in Laytown and the other in Bettystown, but about a 25-minute walk - with a child on a bike or walking it could be 45 minutes.

“Teens have nowhere to go and often hang out at playgrounds, leading to anti-social behaviour, and make playgrounds undesirable.

“People in the area started losing interest after we couldn’t get anything done with the council and it leads to people being frustrated and giving up and accepting things.”

Cllr Sharon Tolan said that while she understands residents’ wishes to have a playground closer to the Castlemartin area, a playground for Donacarney, an area that has seen huge residential growth and has no playground in the area will be first priority for East Meath.

She said her focus will be securing a site for a community centre and is hopeful construction on the new library in Bettystown will commence in September.