POSITIVE PARENTING
It was very encouraging to read that there is an agency which takes child protection seriously. (FS 14/09)
More so, this agency has policies which comes into force in cases of child abuse and corporal punishment whether in schools, communities or in families.
I also know that there is a helpline that can be used to report any such cases.
A colleague of mine some time ago called on this helpline and reported a case where a couple of children were being beaten, verbally abused and threatened day in day out.
Two to three people attended to that call from the other side, but it ended up nowhere. Incidents such as this is impeding the empowerment status of the community. In fact, this is a clear display of disrespect and mistrust towards the person who has made a genuine call while giving his or her mobile number for further reference later on.
In my opinion, instead of being reactive this section of the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation should be proactive.
All new parents should go through these policies and training before the child is released from the hospital upon delivery. They should get a clearance from this unit that they have understood the positive parenting initiative and the binding legal framework. More community work should be carried out physically by this section of the said ministry instead of working through other means while at the office. Calling the local office is also a huge problem.
Your phone would not be received from the other side. Where have the welfare officers (or whatever they are called ) gone?
There are lots of other strategies that can be used to get this child abuse situation under control if there is a will to work them out through genuine consultation and community partnerships.
I have plenty to offer if one wants assistance all in my genuine desire to assist the vulnerable children from any forms of abuse at such a tender age.
I am thinking of their future and their potential to become hard lined citizens later on if not taken care of now.
God bless our young ones and may He widen the horizon of logical thinking of our relevant service providers to encompass better strategies to combat child abuse in any form. DHIRENDRA PRASAD is our third Letter of the Week winner for the month of September.