CHILDREN’S Advocate Mary Clarke has called for a national campaign for the education of parents across the island, saying that improved parenting was key to safeguarding the care and protection of Jamaica’s children.

“If we put resources into strengthening and supporting families, we’ll have good returns on investment, and the status of children in Jamaica would be approved,” Clarke told the Rotary Club of Kingston on Thursday.

The campaign, Clarke said, would be vital at this time when hundreds of children find themselves on the streets, from which many are compelled to eke out a living, relegating them to the ranks of street and working children.

According to Clarke, while there was no doubt that many parents want for their children what is in their best interest, many of them knew little or nothing of what it takes to be an effective parent.

“.They lack information, they lack adequate services [and] they lack adequate resources. A national mobilisation campaign will address some of these shortcomings,” said Clarke.

Among the information parents lack, she said, was the importance of the early years of a child’s life and the stages of development for a child. She said that they also needed to be educated on how to discipline their children, even as they set parametres for them.

“This will put an end to a lot of physical abuse that is so costly to the child and to the development of the child, so costly to the health system, and so costly to the national security and justice system,” Clarke said.

The children’s advocate also told Rotarians that there was need for improved communication skills to improve parent/child relations, and getting parents to understand the implications of separating from their children.