GLENMUIR High School Student Renee Osbourne, has been named Most Outstanding Child Researcher by organisers of a two-day Caribbean Child Research Conference, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, from October 20-21.

This year’s conference was held under the theme: ‘Five Years before 2015: The Millennium Development Goals and Child Rights in the Caribbean’, and featured researchers presenting their findings on various issues affecting children as well as children presenting their own research.

Renee was one of 10 high school students who were chosen to present their research at the conference. In addition to winning the overall prize, her research titled: ‘The key to the Future development of Jamaica Resides in protecting our Children from Violence and abuse in the Home’, was also singled out as the Best Written Paper.

Second place went to Sashene Brown of Fern Court High, whose research looked at: ‘Abortion among teenagers: What are the causes and consequences of teenage girls having an abortion in my community?’

Dunoon Park Technical High School student Rushane Finch placed third for his research titled: ‘An examination of reasons why there are so many children living on the streets of Kingston and St Andrew’. Rushane also received the prize for Best Overall Presentation (male) and Best Methodology.

Nicole Wallace of Glenmuir High received the prize for Best Overall Presentation (female) for her research: ‘Sixth form education should be a right, not a privilege for young Jamaicans between the ages of 15 and 18 years’.

This year the conference also added an essay competition to involve primary school students. They were asked to write on the topic: ‘What does child rights mean to me?’

First place went to Tavoy Barrett of Port Morant Primary and Junior High School; second was Christopher Stewart of Clonmel Primary and Junior High School; and third place went to Jody-Kay Bent of Breadnut Hill Primary School. Kalia Edwards of Content Gap Primary School received special commendation for her essay.

During Thursday’s awards ceremony, the conference also honoured Children’s Advocate Mary Clarke for her contribution to the promotion of child rights in Jamaica.

“I am grateful and humbled by your kind words of recognition of my efforts as Children’s Advocate to promote and protect the rights of children. I can hardly believe it’s been five years,” she said.

She also praised the organisers of the conference for giving children a platform on which to speak. Clarke said it was clear that Jamaica’s future is in good hands, but cautioned that “they (the children) will succeed as much as we as adults help them to succeed”.

The conference also saw the launch of the book, Promoting Child Rights through Research, Volume Two’. The book contains 10 papers selected from those presented at the 2007 and 2008 conference. It reflects the commitment of conference organisers to promote child rights through research and fulfils one of the main objectives of the conference — to strengthen the link between evidence-based research and policy formulation and implementation.

The conference was spearheaded by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica and other partners.

— JIS