SUMMER is here. In full force. Eight long weeks of summer. This means schools are closed. This means, except for those enrolled in summer classes or summer camps, our children are on vacation somewhere in Jamaica or overseas. Full-time care of our children now becomes parents’ responsibility — and may I hasten to add this is not a task many parents relish, and there are those who can’t wait for school to be reopened so the youngsters can go back to school.

So the fact that our children are now at home, let us turn the spotlight on their safety and security, especially in light of the chilling facts that have been coming to the fore where our children are concerned. What are our home environments like? For parents who have to work, is there a responsible adult in the home to supervise the activities of the children? Do our children have relatively safe play areas? If we do, can our children go out to play? Are they taught to recognise potential danger and swiftly move to safety? As a people, are we prepared to protect the rights of our children? Is it their responsibility to care for themselves? Are our children taught how to resolve conflicts peaceably? Do we need to appoint a “children’s advocate” in every home?

Sporadic attention

In Jamaica, of the 12 months in the year, two are usually reserved for focus on the “child” and the “youth”: May is designated Child Month, and November is Youth Month. During these 60 days emphasis is placed on highlighting the accomplishments of the denizens of this country who fall in that age group.

Outside of these months, we may see sporadic news items about the achievements of our youth. However, if we are to help our children become the future, we need to stop this on again, off again, perchance approach that we have adopted towards them. These pockets of attention we give to them are far too inadequate and may give the sad impression that, as a society, we do not care about them or only care about them at certain times. We need, instead, to place the spotlight on our children every day and focus on them both in covert and overt ways if they are to become the successful adults we want them to be. After all, they will be the “us” of tomorrow, and it is time we stop and give serious thought to this.

We really need to sit down at the proverbial table and face the fact that, given the chance to grow up, in 20 years or less, these same children whom many of us pay scant regard to, do not take the quality time to talk with and listen to, and sometimes swat them away like pesky insects, will be the educators, government, health care workers, service providers, employers of this country. Can we honestly then say from a political and social point of view that we are setting the examples that we want them to emulate and in turn display when they become “us”? Are we providing with our own lives, exemplars so that when we see “us” in them we can smile inwardly and think our future is safe?

Everybody’s job

The call for action of providing immediate advocacy and protection in every home for our children must take precedence, must become strident, must not be reactionary, as, based on the trajectory the criminal elements in our society are on, many of our children may not even live to return to school in September or see the activities planned to highlight the accomplishments of their age group this upcoming November. Instead, we may read about another senseless, heinous mutilation of the lives of our youth.

In recent weeks, news in various media announced the brutal deaths of no less than four of our babies. This is frightening; crippling even! It is time we begin once again to recognise and accept that the job of protecting this ‘endangered species’ who belongs to all of us — not just a few government agencies sparsely scattered across the country, some of which most of the times are strapped for resources (material, technological, human and financial). Or a few passionate persons who start up an organisation or those who sometimes wait for sensational stories about the death or the disappearance of one of our nation’s most vulnerable before we attend to their protection.

Already, for this year alone, up to the end of April, the lives of 30 children have been snuffed out. For 2012, 41 children were killed; and 54 in 2011. Over the 10-year period of 2000 – 2011, the print media reported that more than 1,500 children lost their lives violently. Jamaica is not at war and, as far as I know, we do not practise the euphemistic “ethnic cleansing”, nor is there genocide going on in this country, so what then is going on? We must stop this and it is incumbent on every household to ensure that it designates an advocate for the child/ren who live in that home. It should once again be every village’s responsibility to help raise our children.

Learn from the animal kingdom

Our children have been exposed to danger, are injured, or worse, have lost their innocence or lives in preventable, disastrous events such as fires, motor vehicle accidents, drownings, fights/stabbings, shootings, sexual exploitation, or child labour. Should we, as parents, caregivers-cum-advocates become a little bit more caring, involved, and proactive? We could very well minimise and/or even prevent these. We could learn a thing or two from the animal kingdom; their care and protection of their neonates and young are extremely admirable. They defend them with their lives or ‘fight’ ferociously to ward off any threat to the well-being of their offspring. Additionally, the only time their young are left to fend for themselves is when they have achieved both that chronological and mental age.

As the “higher class” of the entire animal kingdom, many of us leave our children unattended, employ caregivers without doing proper background checks, send them on poorly supervised outings, or drive recklessly with them on board. I am fully aware that there are responsible parents among us who train their children, teach them values and attitudes for their success, and further take every precaution to protect them from harm, but our efforts are sometimes thwarted because of poorly trained children of poorly trained parents, callous adults, or careless service providers leaving our children to become prey to a perverse set and eventual victims or unfortunate statistics.

UN Convention on the Charter of Rights of the Child

This is truly sad as our children need to be given a chance to behave like the children they are, and be given a chance to grow up into the adults they want to become. We need to put measures in place to ensure that their welfare is secure and their dreams can flourish. This should not be too hard for us as parents, educators, community members. and especially as a government.

We just have to look back at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a synopsis of which reminds us inter alia that: “All children have rights to live, to grow and develop their minds and bodies; to basic amenities such as food, shelter and special care (if needed); to play, to develop themselves; to always be among the first to get help; to be safe from cruelty and exploitation; and not be made to work before attaining a minimum age.”

Many of our children are deprived of some of these rights. It is clear then, that as a people, we must act expeditiously to save our children from the atrocities being waged on their innocent lives. Frankly, I am tired of seeing the wanton, gruesome destruction of innocence when their stories are shared on social media. Some persons even seem to have a macabre sense of humour and tend to post these stories on the Internet oblivious of the insensitivity their acts show. These stories are also given prominence in other media, and come so fast I sometimes become fooled into thinking they are repeat news items.

Are we au fait with their rights as a person? Do we help to teach them the responsibilities that come with these rights? We need to begin doing these in a more emphatic, sincere, coordinated, and meaningful manner, and what better way to do so than to appoint in our own homes and communities a “children’s advocate”.

Back to basics

This ignominious slaying of our children must stop. We need swift intervention in our homes, in our communities, and in our country at large. If we are not careful, we may become inured to these stories and so, because it may appear that these villainous acts do not matter, they may become the norm.

When did we get here? How did we get here? What has happened to the “Jamaican-ness” in us that loved, appreciated, respected, and protected our people, especially our children, the aged and the indigent? What has taken us to the point where so many of our children are being snatched from us in their nascent years? How will we send a message to our people that these reprehensible, dastardly acts of criminality must stop now?

The answer, I believe, is the concept that every home, every community needs a “children’s advocate”. We must have that one person who makes it his responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the children who live in that home/community. The advocate does not have to physically live in the home, the advocate could be a community member, a teacher, a Sunday school teacher, a police officer, and media houses, anyone of us who care for, appreciate, respect, and love our children. Let us go back to basics. We need to show love, teach respect, teach conflict resolution. We need to teach behavioural traits such as integrity and responsibility. We need to get back to a time when criminal acts, especially those committed against our children, were denounced and the offenders were brought to a public shaming and justice. Help save our children during this and all other summers. Let the advocates among us raise our voices, our arms, and our resources to help save our children, our future.

Alcia Morgan Bromfield, M Ed, B Ed, Dip Ed, is vice-principal at Munro College, teacher of linguistics and literature, communication specialist, author, and poet. Send comments to: amorganbromfield@yahoo.com