Dear Editor;
PERMIT me space in your newspaper to highlight an issue which is of great concern to me. At about 3 p.m. on 22nd of February, I was agitated by the sound of blows being rained down upon a screaming child over the road from where I work. I got up quickly from my desk, went outside and shouted to the teacher who was beating the child at a private school.I shouted that she should stop abusing the child, I choose to describe it as abuse Mr. Editor, as it was lashes upon lashes which could be heard within my office more than 100 metres away. The screams of the child were more than overbearing; you can hear the pain; feel the hurt. A female, whom I presumed to be the perpetrator, came to the verandah and challenged me to do something about it.
Mr. Editor, I called the Child Care and Protection Agency who informed me that it was a matter that they could not deal with and that I should call the Schools’ Welfare Department of the Ministry of Education. The person on the line even asked me to call back for the number, which I did. I called the number provided and got on to the Schools Welfare office, I spoke to someone who informed me that it’s for the Human Services to deal with. I asked for a number which they provided; upon calling the number, I realised it was the very Child Care and Protection Agency that provided me with their contact information.
Mr. Editor, I am saddened, I am confused, I am disturbed, that the system which should be protecting our children is nothing but a dysfunctional system that does not serve the purpose for which it was intended.  I say this Mr. Editor, because there is clearly a disjoint in processes. No one wants to take on the responsibility of dealing with the issue; while this is happening children are hurting; children are crying; children are feeling the end of a cane or whatever comes to the hand of the abuser. Many days we can see adverts encouraging persons to call in and report all forms of abuse; if today’s example is how the system deals with matters of this nature, then I can only understand the frustration faced by persons trying to report occurrences. I can see someone trying to report a matter giving up because of the pushing around. It is no wonder that parents often take matters into their own hands.
Child Protection should not be taken lightly and the State and her agencies are obligated to protect those of our citizenry who are unable to stand up to the abusers who are often ones in authority. This is not the first time that the abuse has been perpetrated, it is almost a daily occurrence and it must stop. We cannot allow abusers in the guise of teachers to continually abuse our children. We need to fix this immediately, without delay.
Sincerely
Michael Mc Garrell