Bad parenting hurting children’s mental health, poll finds

Several children across the island are less than impressed with their parents who, they believe, are leaving them to navigate the pressures of teenage years alone.

That is one of the major findings of a U-report poll conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in association with the Jamaica Observer to mark Child Month 2023.

“Sometimes we want parents to listen to us, instead of telling us what they think,” said a 17year-old respondent in the revealing poll.

The youngster was one of 240 respondents and among 87 per cent who said that Jamaican parenting styles create mental health challenges in children and youth.

She charged that parents refuse to understand the struggles their children are faced with daily, and oftentimes tell the child, “You have everything you need, so there’s no reason to be depressed”.

Almost half of the respondents said they believe they face more mental health struggles than their parents at a similar age.

The cry for more support from their parents is not new, as Jamaican children have continuously called for more emotionally intelligent styles of parenting.

Another respondent argued that the lack of support from a parental figure in the home has forced a number of Jamaican children to seek other ways to channel their feelings. That, the girl said, can be attributed to the increased number of teenagers engaging in different forms of illicit drugs.

“Mental health is a serious issue that affects all but is being ignored in Jamaica. Often, youths, and even adults, commit suicide or go into depression due to lack of support system,” said the female respondent.

She charged that many Jamaican parents are still pushing the agenda that boys are not allowed to cry or show their feelings and argued that this belief is troubling as some boys are growing up with the distorted view.

“This issue causes our youths to deviate as they feel as if they can better rely on guns, drugs, and music to soothe their mentality when it tends to destroy them more. There needs to be a proper mental health system where [children] can talk without being judged, and feel supported in Jamaica,” the youngster said.

Another female respondent called for more active parenting for her age-mates. She urged parents to pay closer attention to the voices of their children as they were also people experiencing life in their way.

“Parents need to remember that even though time has changed, children still undergo struggles and are at risk of mental health issues. Parents need to be more open-minded to this fact and be that safe space, or that person their children can speak with. Stop turning them away, take a minute and listen, they will appreciate it,” she said.

The respondents also pointed to what they described as the absence of media literacy among Jamaican parents.

According to a 17-year-old female from Portland, parents need to help their children navigate the social media spaces as more youngsters were falling prey to what they see online.

“Jamaican leaders, including parents, need to pay more attention to the mental damage that excessive use of social media can cause. They must educate students, not only on the effects of overusing social media but alternative methods of feeling fulfilled, like going to church, hanging out with friends, and playing sports,” she argued.

“Teens use social media as a coping mechanism, just like some would use drugs or behave in a delinquent manner to deal with the holes that are in their hearts. Social media distracts them from the lack that they experience in life. We need to get back to God as a society because that is the only way that hole will truly be filled,” added the 17-year-old.

Noting that many Jamaicans believe that children are too young to experience mental health challenges, the youngster said, “Children of Jamaica are struggling with mental health [issues] because of numerous reasons, but the main reason is that they do not have a safe space to talk about their problems because their parents disregard their feelings because they are young, so they keep it bottled up. Give… support to the youth, ask them about family issues — they’re not too young to [experience] depression”.