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PREVENTING CHILD ABUSE

Oct 12, 2015 Editorial

The United States Department of Labour has reported that many children in Guyana are involved in child labour and commercial sexual exploitation which is the worse form of child abuse. It is estimated that roughly 24 per cent of Guyana’s children age 5 to 14 are in child labour and more than 70 percent of them are working in agriculture.
Others are rented out to relatives, friends and even strangers to do household chores and in the process they are sexually abused. These children are denied an education and the enjoyment of their childhood. The recent alleged sexual assault of a sixteen-year old girl at the Georgetown Hospital is a major cause for concern. The government must act to prevent child abuse.
Child labour is not new; it has happened throughout most of history. It is the employment of children that deprives them of their childhood and prevents them from attending school. Although poverty is the primary reason for child labour, it is dangerous and harmful to children and has affected them mentally and physically. There are approximately 245 million children aged 5–17 worldwide who are employed in child labour which is illegal.
It is time for the APNU+AFC government to save the children of Guyana because the former administration has failed them. It is unfortunate that Guyana does not have a comprehensive policy to combat child labour.
The establishment of the Commission on the Rights of the Child and a Ministerial Task Force on Combating Trafficking in Persons by the former government had no mechanisms to coordinate the efforts to address child labour in the country. Sexual exploitation and child labour have and continue to traumatize children and have had a negative impact on their behavior. Many have turned to crime and violence in spite of those who are trying their best to make a difference in their lives.
Lest we forget, children are innocent little human beings, but as they grow older, adults will influence and corrupt their minds and then lay the blame on them when they become juvenile delinquents. The fact is, society is currently reaping what the adults continue to propagate in the minds of children who are exploited in all vital areas of their lives—morally, spiritually and emotionally.
Yet, they are being judged by these same adults who should carefully examine their own behavior to understand what they have done and continue to do to children who are impressionable and vulnerable.
Bars and rum shops should not be allowed to operate in close vicinity to schools. The consumption of alcohol and the use of illegal drugs and obscene language in full view of children should not be tolerated because many children are likely to adopt those habits and will probably misbehave in schools.
The lives of many children are saturated with the filthy and immoral behaviour of adults. Adults must set better examples for children if they want children to adhere to the old adage “Do as I say, but not as I do.” Children tend to imitate the behaviour of adults, good or bad.
In Guyana, child labour, sexual exploitation of children and violent relationships are fast becoming a cultural norm in society. It is wrong for adults to exploit children and for men or women to physically abuse and harass their spouses or partners in front of children.
In many instances, this type of vulgar and abusive behaviour is often played out in schools by children, hence the violence in the schools and the reason for many school dropouts and increase in gangs and crime. The nation is losing its children to gangs and crime and they are filling up the cemeteries around the country. It’s time for the coalition government to act. Child labour and sexual exploitation of children must be prevented.

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