HELP, MY DAUGHTER IS OUT OF CONTROL Woman wants authorities to intervene

Claudette Freckleton, the mother of a 13-year-old girl, is pleading with the authorities to help her with her daughter, who, she said, is getting out of control.

In desperation, the 56-year-old mother, who has 12 other children, came to THE WEEKEND STAR seeking to highlight her plight in an effort to get someone to step in and take charge.

She said that her daughter’s bad behaviour started last year, but it spiralled out of control a month ago.

“Last week, mi see this lady in the community, and mi haffi a talk to har. She carry mi go church, and mi sit down dere a bawl because mi stress out because a wah she a do,” she said.

Freckleton said that she has called the police and other entities to seek help, but her cries have fallen on deaf ears.

“Mi go CDA (Child Protection and Family Services Agency — CPFSA), mi go Commissioner’s Office. Dem send me back to the police, and the police nah do nothing,” she said.

She told THE WEEKEND STAR that she is at her wits end because no one in the family is able to talk to the child about what she is doing.

“A year ago, someone come and tell mi seh she deh round some bwoy. Mi never expect that so mi go fi har and drag har, but wi did good the day after. Now she just deh pan the road wid a bag a bwoy bwoy, and when mi talk to har, she cuss mi out,” Freckleton said, adding that her daughter has even called

her ‘dutty gyal’.

“The other day, mi come home from mi likkle hussle, and she seh she a go party. So mi seh: ‘How yuh fi a go party and yuh a 13, yuh mad?’ She mash out mi window dem, and mi did haffi call police,” she added.

DISRESPECTING FAMILY

Freckleton said that her daughter’s behaviour has gotten so bad that she is now disrespecting family members and persons in the community. Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison said that they have had incidents of this nature before, and it is their duty to step in and ensure that things get right. “Most times we talk to the child first, because usually when something like that is happening for a long time, the child has some issue. It can be that her mother is a single mother, it could be that her father is gone and she doesn’t have a father figure, or probably she is being bullied. So we always try to speak to the child to find out what is going on,” she said. Despite the behavioural issues, Freckleton said that she doesn’t want to beat her daughter or get in trouble with the law. Instead, she said that she would like the CPFSA or a similar entity to intervene in the matter.