And the rank, of course.

Still, even though this rising phenomenon may seem like a new thing, the precedent was set many moons ago by women like the Black Mamba, one of the most feared women in Central Trinidad who was married to an Indian drug lord.

It is not altogether new, because some of these girls -- as I would call them -- have represented the more vicious elements in some teams of criminals that have been using women as decoys to fool people.

And a cursory glance at the list of female candidates on Death Row will show convicts like Natasha De Leon who, along with her boyfriend, was found guilty of brutally murdering a taxi-driver several years ago.

On a much smaller scale, women have been working together in groups to bring grief to many businesses in downtown Port of Spain, bustling San Fernando and in the heart of Chaguanas, at least.

Young women, especially, move in groups, when they enter some stores and distract the sales persons, while their sisters, nieces, friends and sometimes very young children are used to steal stuff.

And this is where it gets serious, because another generation of boys and girls are growing up knowing that stealing and taking what’s not theirs is the “right” thing to do; that is until they end up in jail.

And then begins the cycle of holding our heads in shame and blaming the children, as many women don’t even realise they confess that they do not know “what is going on in these children head”.

What an injustice for the children!

Who is to save the babies, as singer Marvin Gaye implored some years ago, when the trends were already evident and which has since borne bitter fruit for us?

On the other side of the coin is the equally deadly and dangerous woman, who’s a good income earner, is a “high-maintenance” as we call them, and stalks a man for his money and uses children to get economic leverage.

The life they live is the example that the children follow, so while they may have some of the best clothes, shoes and bling in town, they are not taken care of emotionally.

A stable emotional setting -- whether it is in the home of a single parent a regular family or the extended family -- is the precursor to good school grades and overall confidence to grapple with the experiences that teach our children life skills.

You do not need to have riches to bring up a child in the way that he should grow and there are many, many parents out there trying their utmost to make the best of a bad situation.

But as it is, the bad outweigh the good and nowhere is that more evident than in the primary school system where it is bad, but the focus, sadly, has been on the secondary school system, where the bad seeds that have been sown in the early years of children’s lives, become very evident.

It all boils down to the kind of time and thinking that goes into parenting and I shake my head in utter frustration each time that I see young girls, who play plenty woman for plenty man, unable to keep a firm grip on their children.

Unable to present a figure of true authority on the child, the mother or father uses brute force in their twisted way of leading by example.

Anita Annamunthodo, the mother of four-year-old Amy, who was found to have been beaten and sexually abused, is not a rare case.

There are scores of frustrated women who are walking around with children in their arms, feeding and clothing them but emotionally unable to do more to make life comfortable.

Many are warring with the “child father” and the state of mind of a future adult is set in stone; there is no love in the environment.

And that is what I had to explain to my eight-year-old daughter recently as she tried to seek understanding on why some children hit out so often, while playing at school.

Then I had to tell her that most of them do not mean anything; they just do not know how to show love; to remind her that her father always shook his head in amazement saying “you teach your children the right thing and show them love, and they go out there to face the children whose parents teach them the opposite”.

And that is the way of the world, ent?

The lines are clearly drawn in the battle between good and bad.

There is not a woman in the world (who has a child) who is not blessed.

It is up to them to know their blessings and move with the tide of love.

As altruistic as that may sound; it is the solution, even at a time when mothers are teaching their children to become haters long before they can read or write.

Some of the most vociferous Soca Warriors campaigners, wining in red, playing themselves as true patriots, do not teach their children any values that would make a Soca Warrior, in the long run; no sign of encouraging discipline, which is the hallmark of a fine sportsman.

A clean home, good hygiene practices -- sadly lacking from many young mothers -- and respect are sorely lacking.

Therefore we have generations of problems ahead of us, simply because we refuse to go to the root of the problem.

Now, with mothers taking the lead as gunslingers, heaven alone knows what’s next on the agenda!