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Childcare Protection head calls on media to be more vigilant
Head of the Child Care Protection Agency, Ann Greene, is calling on the media to assist the entity when it comes to reporting and highlighting cases of children caught in abusive environments.
Head of the Childcare Protection Agency, Ms. Ann Greene
The long serving social worker believes that cooperation between media houses and the child care agency could have a far reaching impact on child protection.
Greene identified some key roles which the media can play in child welfare and protection. The first role which she pointed out was that media houses should encourage child participation. Speaking on this she said, “Any news agency should always have things which children can participate in”.
Her second point was that news agencies should seek to improve the image of children. In explaining this point she expressed that whenever a publication is reporting on a child matter it should be careful not to degrade the image of the child.
Additionally, if pictures are used, the images chosen should be decent and not used in a way to pervert the public’s opinion of the child.
Thirdly, Greene emphasised that the media, “Can be a child rights actor on child rights violations/and good practices.”
At this juncture, she referenced the many rights afforded to children. Some of these rights are as follows— a child’s right to an identity, health, an education, equality, love, play, having a voice, special care and having basic needs provided.
Her fourth point was that, “The media can play a significant role through forming and influencing people’s attitudes and behaviour. It is her belief that sensitization will help inform the public and would thereby play a role in reducing the number of child abuse cases.
Greene went on to give as her fifth key role, the effectiveness of the media at building citizen awareness of the issue of child abuse. In doing so, the traumatic effects which abused children experience will receive greater coverage and persons will know how serious the issue is.
Lastly, the Childcare Head conveyed to this newspaper that the agency needs support. She suggests that the public and the media can offer such assistance by highlighting the positives of the work done by childcare workers.
Greene argued that many times the childcare agency receives tough criticism but she stressed that the agency is tasked to put the interests of the children above all other interests and in doing so, it usually entails making unpopular decisions.
To assist the agency, the public servant said, “This is where we need the media.” She believes that the media can play a pivotal role by exercising investigative journalism into child matters so that persons can be aware of the proper procedures and investigation which the agency would have employed before making a decision.
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