Police urges parents not to allow their children to wine at parties
“Please don’t let them hurt your children We need love and shelter from the storm Please don’t let them hurt your children Won’t you keep us safe and warm.” – Baby Sharon
T IS the norm to see videos and images popping up on social media of children behaving badly, whether in the dance or some private recording posted by adults.
More often than not, the dance moves are sexual in nature and adults can be heard in the background prodding the child on or laughing away at the child’s antics.
The dancehall is no different, and youngsters can be seen gyrating on much older women, to the amusement of those enjoying the spectacle.
The sad reality is that many do not realise the danger they are exposing the children to, including paedophiles and perverts.
With the hard line now being taken to protect the nation’s children, Family and Religion reached out to Inspector Owen Brown, sub-officer in charge of the Community Safety and Security Branch, Clarendon Division, on the dangers of and repercussions from these kinds of occurrences.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Brown said children are in need of protection, but such actions will leave them exposed to real danger.
He cautioned guardians and parents that they can be held responsible for ‘putting out’ their children in this fashion.
“It is an offence to expose the child in this fashion, and they can be arrested for that,” he said, adding that custody of the child can also be taken from them and that child would end up in state care depending on the gravity of the situation.
According to Brown, some of those who expose their children to situations like the one being discussed don’t themselves understand the real impact of what they are allowing.
“Persons have been exposed to it (being in dances, performing the same kind of dances) from they were young and they don’t really see anything wrong with it,” he said.
Brown said it makes it easy for them to allow their children to do the same thing and find it amusing in the process.
For others, he said it’s a way to ensure that the children enjoy some kind of supervision as they don’t have anyone to watch them, pointing out that they would be “on the radar” in the dance.
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Regarding the posting of videos in which children’s dances have a sexual nature or any material that has the least hint of pornography in it, Brown issued a strong warning.
“If there is anything coming under child pornography or anything explicit being displayed by the child on that video, it is an offence to post or share the video – both the sender and the person who plays it can be charged,” he said.
For Brown, not only is it morally wrong, but with actions like those are exposing the children to all kinds of dangers and the added risk of being torn from their families.
“As a parent, you may lose your child. The child may be exposed to even more danger at the place of safety, which may not be properly secured. They may not get a real opportunity to be grown a family to which they are entitled,” Brown said.
He advised parents that they should be careful, bearing in mind that they are the ones who brought the children here and it’s their responsibility to protect them.
“If there is anything coming under child pornography or anything explicit being displayed by the child on that video, it is an offence to post or share the video – both the sender and the person who plays it can be charged.”