This newspaper feels a sense of gratitude to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Novelette Grant, currently on pre-retirement leave, for her recent and very thoughtful contribution to the debate about crime in this country.

Addressing a forum in Mandeville, Ms Grant called for society to pay greater attention to curbing “non-criminal” and “non-physical” abusive behaviour which can result in children in particular growing up without empathy for others.

That absence of empathy can lead to the kind of cold, callous, vicious actions so common to criminals in Jamaica.

People of every culture are well aware of how debilitating the effect of hurtful words can be. In Jamaica, children — many growing up in socially and economically depressed circumstances — are often the most consistent targets of such cruel verbal barbs.

We think it important to quote Ms Grant: “Sadly, too many of our citizens, especially our children, have to live and cope with shame and humiliation. Some lack the necessary support or personal resilience and so they fall prey to the violence of self-harm. Many of us can recall and agree that from our own experiences… words are often the most pervasive and long-lasting destructive form of violence experienced by many of us. The cruelty of words batters down the psyche and the self-esteem, it destroys identity, it belittles, and it kills dreams. The result is often people who have little or no experience with affection, affirmation, and so they grow to casually dish out hate, coldness, feeling disconnected from everybody around them, and unfortunately develop a total lack of empathy for their fellow human beings.” Ms Grant also said that “too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, the smallest act of caring, all of which have the power and the potential to turn a life around.”

A cornerstone of the problem is that Jamaica is caught up in a vicious cycle of poor parenting. Those who suffered consistent verbal and other abuse as children are very likely to become poor parents themselves, unless there is a proactive attempt to change attitudes and behaviour.

That’s why some of Jamaica’s more progressive community leaders, including teachers, pastors, and others, have focused on forming parenting clubs aimed at helping adults to utilise best practices in bringing up their children.

One such is the Porus Primary Parenting Club at Porus in Manchester which, from all appearances, has made a big, positive difference to people’s lives in that rural community.

We are aware that in 2017 Ms Grant was instrumental in forming a violence-interruption initiative using kindness as a medium to encourage empathy.

This newspaper has often made the point in this space that if the society is to conquer crime, much greater attention should be paid to nurturing and protecting children. We contend that if Jamaicans continue to raise so many of their children in a careless, thoughtless manner, there will still be the need for states of emergency and draconian anti-crime measures 10, 20, 30 years from now.

It seems to us that the Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies of government should be moving with speed to encourage the formation of parenting groups as well as initiatives such as Ms Grant’s in every community.