Oliver Clarke (second right), managing director of The Gleaner Company Ltd., and Gerald Lalor (right), honorary chairman of The Gleaner Company, exchange pleasantries, while Glenroy Sinclair (left), assignment coordinator at The Gleaner, and Daraine Luton, staff reporter, look on. Occasion was a luncheon held at The Gleaner's head office at 7 North Street, Kingston, yesterday, honouring the Inter-American Press Association's (IAPA) award-winning news team of Daraine Luton, Keisha Hill, Glenroy Sinclair, Ricardo Makyn and Rudolph Brown, who copped the IAPA News Coverage Award in the 2007 Excellence in Journalism Awards.- Andrew Smith/Photography Editor

Children are regarded as the future of a society, and as such, Children's Advocate, Mary Clarke, is again calling for a more vigilant stance with regard to the nation's children to ensure that they are properly taken care of.

Speaking yesterday at a luncheon honouring the awardees of the Inter-American Press Association's (IAPA) news coverage award for the 'Dayton Avenue Church series', Mrs. Clarke highlighted several issues regarding the treatment of Jamaica's children.

The Gleaner captured the IAPA News Coverage Award in the 2007 Excellence in Journalism awards for its series of articles on a case involving the abuse and videotaping of a young girl by a group of teenagers under the watchful eyes of a religious leader and the subsequent attempt to cover up the case and prevent it from being reported publicly.

"This is an exemplary story of how the media can help to protect the child and we need to highlight that the protection right of the child is a right to be enjoyed," said Mrs. Clarke.