GRUESOME reports of children killed, abused and missing linger on nine-year-old Ngozi Wright’s mind and causes her to wonder if she is the next victim.

That was the heart-breaking response shared by Wright during a Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange held with student leaders and minors in recognition of Child Month 2022 being celebrated under the theme, “Listen Up, Children’s Voices Matter.”

“When you’re reading the newspaper, or watching the news, you’re hearing all about the violence coming up and how many children are going missing, and then it would be traumatising for the children,” she said.

“Depending on the community you’re from, you would be thinking, am I next or what will happen to you? And I think that’s the biggest problem we are facing today,” answered Ngozi, when asked about the most pressing issues affecting children.

Statistics on child abuse from the National Children’s Registry showed that there were 4,211 reports between January and March, which is an increase from 2,276 reports for the corresponding period last year. Data on missing children from the Child Protection & Family Services Agency indicated that 1,560 children have still not been found since 2021.

For his response, Ngozi’s twin brother Tafari said poor parenting was the biggest problem.

“I think it is the bad deed parents are doing and how they grow their children. Children need to be grown in a specific way, so that they can believe in themselves to do better,” he said.

A similar, yet detailed view was shared by 12-year-old Samoya Gordon who attends Friendship Primary School in St Catherine.

She said some parents are not supportive of their children’s dreams.

“They are using abusive languages and beating them, giving them bruises. I want that to change because if they (children) tell their parents they want to be a doctor and their parents are saying ‘you need to be something else’, they are not going to be what they want to be. I think children should follow their dreams, be passionate about that and just get a good education and be the best they can be in the society,” she said.

Several agencies, including the National Parenting Support Commission of the Ministry of Education, Youth, continue to appeal to parents to reach out for assistance to improve their parenting skills.

Meanwhile, Jamaica Prefects’ Association national treasurer and Kingston College head boy Malikai Allwood, when asked the same question, said, “Jamaica is counter intuitive in terms of what it wants. It wants to provide opportunities for youth but at the same time, there is a push back or reluctance despite the fact that many youth want to change and are willing to do what it takes to bring certain change.”

Further, Allwood stressed on the relevance of the Child Month theme, noting that children are the future and should have a right to be heard.

“I believe the future is now — present, so if we want to have a sustainable and foreseeable future, you must have us at the table. How can we give decisions that affect our country on a long-term level and not include our youth? The idea of that is impractical and selfish,” he said.

St Hugh’s High School student Dannyelle-Jordan Bailey, who is the National Secondary Students’ Council Region One assistant vice-president, said youngsters are barely given a seat at the table to air their concerns.

“We love to say that our children have a seat at the table but really we don’t. We get a little cotch on someone’s chair and we have to raise our hands very slightly to have a say,” Bailey said, while demonstrating the poor inclusiveness of youth by sitting at the edge of her chair.

“I think it is one of the most significant things in ensuring that the societies that we live in is very inclusive. Our youth make up quite a hefty portion of the population, so if we want to ensure that everyone is comfortable and resources are accessible to all ages we have to ensure that those who are a part of the population are able to give input into how the resources are suited for their needs,” she said.

Additionally, Bailey noted that there is a great disparity in accessing education in Jamaica.

“We love to say we have so many primary education institutions and so many secondary level institutions in Jamaica but we fail to realise that there is a very wide gap of resources that those educational institutions can access. While we have a lot of primary level institutions, there are certain of them that have access to so much more resources when compared to others and we also have the debate of traditional versus non-traditional high schools in Jamaica which plays a big role in how you access information and resources,” she explained.