Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5223/-1/133/
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CELEBRATION OF YOUTH - Child Abuse
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Last week, September 19-20, I had the fortunate pleasure to attend a workshop in Antigua with five other Anguillan colleagues. The report I made on that trip and workshop in its entirety can be found in this week’s edition of The Anguillian. I had heard many times about the Rights of the Child but never fully understood it. During the workshop, it was made clear why some would not understand it as the term itself can be quite ambiguous and, surprisingly enough, the USA did not ratify the agreement. Therefore, the USA does not take part in adhering to the demands of the Convention, although it is quite evident that their policies on child abuse are quite exigent.
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Jason Allen
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There were many issues brought up that grabbed everyone’s attention during the workshop. Facts and figures, trends in culture and many other aspects of child abuse are quite shocking. Yet, the most shocking aspect was the fact that most people, I included, seem to let child abuse in our community go unnoticed for many of the reasons spoken about in the news article. Surely, my colleagues would agree with the fact that certain negative norms of child rearing and development have become commonplace in our community. For example, upon returning to Anguilla one year ago, I distinctly remember sitting next to a young mother, on the ferry, who had a small child that could not have been more than 1 year old. The child was unruly and cried the entire trip. The mother’s repeated slaps to the legs, butt and face did not help in making the baby stop its behaviour.
I am the product of multiple spankings as my mother and father believed in corporal punishment and, needless to say, I believed it worked for me and my family. Yet, my parents would never stray away from some major principles: 1. never hit the child in public 2. never, under and circumstances, hit the child in the face 3. never use any hurtful objects that are meant to cause damage. The repeated beatings this woman gave to her child were not meant to teach proper behaviour and there was no love whatsoever in her actions. The child, in essence, was becoming desensitized to the beatings and it really made no difference otherwise, which led to her hitting the child more often and harder. I wanted to say something to her but I am fully aware that I am a visitor to Anguilla and, because of that, more times than none, I tend to keep my mouth shut. Yet, filled with guilt, I should have reported her to the proper authorities or at least tried to speak with the mother. Child abuse is a serious problem that exists everywhere in the world and every world citizen should play his/her part in helping to protect children who cannot speak for themselves.
According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we are all responsible for being vigilant and reporting obvious cases of child abuse in any shape or form. Children cannot fend for themselves and they need our protection. Please do your part in combating this problem as children who grow up in violence will stay involved in violent behaviour for the rest of their lives, therefore making the cycle impossible to break.