AS Child Month 2022 begins, perhaps the most depressing aspect of the many stories about the abuse of Jamaica’s children is that very little seems new.

Older Jamaicans reading about gun violence in Parade Gardens in Kingston can’t help but feel de ja vu. They have heard all this before.

Reports of children and their adult relatives diving under beds as gun shots thunder on the outside seem just like five decades ago during the politically tribalised community wars of that time.

Just as was the case decades ago, children in many inner-city communities today find it well-nigh impossible to study because of blazing guns and the accompanying terror.

Just like decades ago, community dons and their cronies, wielding fear-inducing power with no consideration for the law, commandeer young girls as their sexual partners, leaving parents and guardians ashamed, angry but more to the point, crippled with fear.

Nor are the depressing similarities confined to raw, open violence and brutal power.

Just like decades ago, extreme poverty, deprivation and ignorance are unbearable burdens for too many communities and homes from which a great number of our children spring.

Those very same socio-economic conditions nurture the traumatising violence and abuse which undermine lives.

Just like decades ago, our schools are unequal. Invariably, children from the poorest homes, most in need of help, end up in the schools least equipped to help them.

Just like times past, children from the poorest homes, especially in the rural areas, are usually the ones to travel the longest distances to and from high school. No wonder then that they are first to drop out.

As in the past, the Ministry of Education consistently drops the ball. This is manifested in the practice of allowing elected politicians to name government representatives to school boards, even though it is well established that such choices are likely to be politically motivated, and not in the best interest of schools and children.

We recognise that most of the many shortcomings surrounding care and protection of children, including those identified here, were made worse by the unexpected onslaught, two years long and counting, from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

We recognise that the organisers of Child Month mean well. We know that highlighting the welfare, well-being, concerns and potential of our children is necessary.

But like many others, this newspaper has grown impatient with nice-sounding words.

The society can’t continue to believe that life will change for the better if it continues day in, day out, in the same old way.

We have said repeatedly, we say again, that our leaders should change tack. They should commit to building an alliance across political party lines, embracing all sectors of society with the aim of massive mobilisation of our people to help themselves in every respect and defeat the negative influences, not least criminals.

That’s the approach we believe will ultimately enable the great majority of our children — not just some — to achieve a brighter future for the greater good of all.

Meantime, every single, responsible Jamaican should be prepared — always — to give a helping hand to a child in need. We all must make a difference.