Don’t take it out on the children – DSP Grant
Deputy Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant is warning parents not to act out their frustration on their children as those who suffer abuse seldom fully recover.
Grant was speaking at last weekend’s National Parent Teachers’ Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), Region 4, Ministry of Education Youth and Information Parent Conference at the Montego Bay Community College, which was staged under the theme ‘Be the Influence.’
“We try to correct it (effects of abuse) through counselling and other mediums, but the children can never be the same. Parents abuse and punish their children many times, not because of what the children do, but because the parents are stressed,” she said.
Dr Stennett Davis, a psychiatrist at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, gave insight into child development to the parents, teachers, guidance counsellors, and children from Westmoreland, Hanover, and St James, who attended the event.
“I want to challenge the parents and teachers to be the influences to our children,” said Davis, who said that the parent-child relationship should start from an early age, arguing that once the right foundation was laid, there would be no need for abusive behaviour.
The event, which had executive members of Region 1 and Region 5 of the NPTAJ in attendance, started with much fanfare as the Green Pond High School Marching Band led the procession into the auditorium, where the devotional exercise was carried out by Pastor Oliver Williams of the Miracle Deliverance Centre in Westmoreland.
Later on in the proceedings, persons in attendance were treated to cultural pieces from Frome Technical High School and pulsating reggae music from guest artiste Mackie Conscious.