Westender,
We all care about the children, and of course the vast majority of children are polite and never beg. Most attend school. But this problem has been happening since late 2012, when the youthful chocolate vendors became much more aggressive in their sales techniques. It was even spoken about directly in a thread in December 2012:
http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...andy-Bar-Mafia
This nickname has been around along time for this particular group of kids and was well earned.
But as Bnewb has pointed out, we are helping these children when we can to learn how and how not to sell their wares. There is one particular older one (about 12) who listens to our suggestions and does what he can to pass them on to the rest. And each time we talk with him, we always emphasize the fact he should be in school instead. He was really proud to show us the new bike he had bought, so the money he earns does not go for food or school. He looks at himself as a businessman.
They were relentless but they have reduced their swarm tactics as that has proved to be counter-productive to their sales. The older one has helped to teach the younger ones. But there are more now than there was back in 2012. They were pretty much a West End issue then, but they have taken their trade to the beach.
As a suggestion, for each person who feels compelled to buy chocolate from any of these children, please do so but remind them that they can earn much more money in the future if they would attend school. If they hear it from enough people, some may take the advice to heart. They are, for the most part, very sweet children who have been caught up early in a tourist based economy.
