Over the last week, the issue of the Rights of the Child was given some media notice.

There was, for instance, the world-wide commemoration of World Day Against Child Labour on Sunday 12th June and a seminar on Wednesday 15th June arranged for the Guyana Police Force (GPF) by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the Rights of the Child Commission (ROC) headed by Ms Aleema Nasir, which dealt with the role of the Police in protecting children.
Ms Nasir, incidentally, comes from a family, who for the last two generations, have been deeply engaged in charitable, religious and humanitarian work including protecting the welfare of children. We felt however, the media could have given more coverage to the Rights of the Child since it was such an important social issue but it always seemed to have been elbowed out by topical political and crime stories.
Protecting the Rights of the Child is of fundamental importance to the Guyanese Nation and this involves many spheres of activities. There is the issue of child labour; children in the Law Courts and in the hands of the Police; the health of children; homeless children; children’s education; and children in the family. These issues all relate to each other but they could not all be addressed in a short article.
Child labour prevents the functioning of a well-organized and well-regulated labour market; its elimination helps to create an economy with long-term stability. In 2015, a sample survey of child labour was done in Georgetown and other population centres along the coast as well as at Ituni and Kwakwani. The age-groups were divided into three categories – 15 years and younger, 15 to 16 years, and 16 to 18 years.
It was found that more than half were engaged in selling and agriculture with smaller numbers suffering from injuries and illnesses caused by lifting heavy loads, operating machinery, and being exposed to chemicals, pesticides, gases and being involved in prostitution activities.
As a result of these findings, it was announced that a special unit would be established in the Social Protection Ministry to deal with the issues of child labour. The unit still has to be established but as an immediate strategy, the Ministry will be enforcing the child labour laws, removing working children off the streets and ensuring that they go to school and appointing more labour inspectors.
With regards to children the Police and the Courts, the Police are being sensitized that they must never regard or treat children the same way as adults nor must they punish or torture them. And in the Courts, they should not be compelled to give evidence and should always be provided with legal representation from the time they are apprehended by the Police and on their appearance in Court. In this regard, the Rights of the Child Commission is calling for the establishment of Public Defender’s Office for children. Particular cognizance must be taken of the plight of disabled children.
There is a great deal that could be done for assisting children to improve their education, such as the proper teaching of English and Mathematics and the use of the computer. The Education Authorities as well as many parents are aware that the ubiquity of private lessons after and before school hours is an extremely negative trend in the Education System: It is an encouragement to the teachers not to teach during school hours; it takes away the child’s childhood; it is an oppressive financial burden on parents; and it discriminates against poorer parents and children who cannot afford to pay for private lessons.
The main opposition to the abolition of this widespread system of private lessons and the return of normal school hours for children are the comparatively few persons who are making money from private lessons.
But probably the greatest help that could be accorded children to prevent abuse, to allow them to live a normal and happier life and to allow them to develop and manifest their innate talents, the greatest help lies with parents and guardians. Parents need to be socialized as to their roles and as part of their socialization, they have to learn the basic psychology of children. The media, the various electronic educational programes and parent-teachers associations could greatly help in this regard.
Parents must realize that children are not identical to adults and that at the various ages before adolescence, they are very different.
They must learn to treat their adolescent children with patience, tolerance and understanding. They must develop an empathy with their children which would allow them to grasp how sensitive and how deeply hurt they are by any slights, insults and ill-treatment.
Many parents are unaware of the deep disappointment and hurt they cause their children by their omission and neglect to give a word of praise and appreciation for any achievement or good or positive thing their children may have done.