Child abuse and neglect must be addressed

Nov 03, 2013 Editorial

There is no doubt that there is an alarming increase of child abuse and related incidents and there should be a determined effort at addressing this emergent social malady. Within the past three weeks the nation has been assailed by news of toddlers being left in unattended circumstances leading to their deaths in a few instances.
How on earth can any rational person expect to leave two and three year olds alone or in the care of young children, and have a level of comfort that these vulnerable beings will remain safe?
Toddlers are reportedly dying by drowning, road accidents, sexual molestation and physical battery but these incidents seem not to be making the kind of impact on our collective consciousness to the point where our social conscience and sensibilities are sufficiently offended to mobilise for justice for these voiceless victims.
Guyanese seem to be afflicted by a seven-day syndrome where after that period has elapsed it is back to our usual business. This is not suggesting for one moment that people should not pay attention to new issues; incidentally, there is an ongoing debate on the contribution of social media networks including Facebook, Bebo, and Twitter to short attention spans on young minds.
What is needed is the sort of draconian law which sanctions parents and caregivers for reckless endangerment of children in their care and custody. A child runs across the road in front of a moving vehicle and the driver is automatically taken into police custody to “assist with investigations.” The public is left none the wiser on why that child was able to get clean away from whoever s/he was with. No thought is given to prosecuting the adult for being less than vigilant when having an active child in their care.
We love to cite the happenings in other countries selectively to avoid taking appropriate measures to address our responsibilities. What we also do conveniently is fail to remark on the steps being taken in those same places to ensure that offenders are brought to book.
What is certain is that no evidence is before us to show that parents are being prosecuted under the Laws of Guyana if they leave a child unsupervised occasioning or likely to occasion unnecessary suffering, injury to health or even death. If it is nonexistent then legislation must be tabled to the effect that babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone.
It becomes problematic when one considers the fact that many single mothers who work shifts leave their children sometimes overnight, and therefore the important issue is what must be done about 12-16 year olds living in those situations.
One may be forgiven for wondering if there is a correlation between unattended children from depressed economic circumstances and the numbers in involuntary occupancy at state institutions.
What is certain, though, is that although we are inclined to mind our own business at the most inopportune moments and for reasons best known to ourselves, there is no denying that sometimes minding our neighbour’s business may prevent injury to a child or even loss of a life. A newspaper deliveryman reported two children wandering naked in Fargo, North Dakota, the result is that the mother was charged for felony abuse.
A Denver, Colorado repeat offender couple was charged with four counts of felony abuse after their four non-verbal and malnourished children were removed from their feces and flies covered apartment. Also in Denver a mother was held on charges of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm (felony) and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after a welfare check discovered her unattended children who were playing on the roadway, in a dirty, smelly and hungry condition.
What those few examples highlight is not that Guyana is peculiar when it comes to horrific stories of child endangerment; where we stand out is by what we fail to do to ensure that other children are not abused, neglected or otherwise harmed to the point of death.
We need to move away from the tired cliché that children are Guyana’s future and act decisively to guarantee for them their future.

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