Beverley Anderson-Manley

Abuse of children in the Jamaican society is becoming the norm. Many of our children are born in and are growing up in poverty. A large percentage of our households are single-parent and largely female-headed households. The women who head these households are under stress and those who have employment are usually in minimal wage jobs and in the case of domestic helpers, often 'live in' and work long hours. While they take care of our children, who is taking care of theirs?

Sexual abuse of our women and children continues to be a critical issue in this country. Our children are being raped. There are reports of students without parents. Sometimes these are what is referred to as "barrel" children. Imagine - we are still not at the stage where it is mandatory for the names of fathers to be on a child's birth certificate. Many of them are missing. Our children are in a state of crisis and we continue to be in denial at our own peril.

Building the Foundation

There is more talk than ever about the importance of early childhood education as the foundation for life-long learning. A great deal has happened in this area of education but policy makers and bureaucrats need to recognise that building the foundation for education requires far more than we have been able to do so far.

The United Nations Children Fund's (UNICEF) 2006 'Situation Analysis on Excluded Children in Jamaica' reminds us that situations affecting children include poverty, exclusion and quality education. In addition, the report notes that children's right to birth registration, safe and protective environments, family care and love, life skills and opportunity to participate are violated or denied.

Bertrand Bainvel, the UNICEF representative to Jamaica, in addressing the opening of the first ever Caribbean Child Research Conference at the Pegasus Hotel last week, called for a greater social investment in children. A similar call was made by Maureen Samms-Vaughn, head of the Early Childhood Commission as she delivered the GraceKennedy Lecture last year.

Jamaica is paying dearly for the neglect of our children. We are already seeing results that destroy the very social fabric of our society. In some cultures, governance has to take into account not only the current situation but how policies are likely to impact on generations yet unborn.

The Public Versus the Private Sphere

Perhaps one of the reasons for our negligence is that children are still seen within the private realm of the household and therefore, as women's work that is undervalued and under-recognised. The United Nations declared 1975 as the International Year of Women. Arising out of that historic conference in Mexico City - for an entire decade - people across the world had the opportunity to focus on the ways in which policies and programmes discriminate against women. One of the highlights of these discussions was the need to blur the boundaries between the private and public sectors. One of the advantages of blurring these boundaries between the so-called private and public spheres, is that what happens to children is then not relegated solely to the household, but it is recognised that there is an overwhelming impact in the public sphere. Are we still looking at our children and seeing them solely as women's responsibility within the private sphere of the household? Could this be one of the reasons why we cannot get policy-makers to listen?

Taking Responsibility

While parents need to take responsibility for their children, the state has enormous responsibilities in this area. For example, with more women entering the labour force, the state must begin to pick up the slack and provide state-of-the-art early childhood facilities and day care centres so we can be sure that our children are getting the best foundation ever.

Development, if it is to be sustainable must begin with the foundation - must begin with our children and in particular, the most vulnerable. We need more people speaking out on these issues and we welcome the voice of the distinguished economist, Sir Alister McIntyre, in this regard.

Beverley Manley is a political scientist and gender specialist. Email: BManley@kasnet.com