We’re seeing tip of child abuse iceberg

Politicians will continue to make futile threats and empty promises, technocrats will make all kinds of excuses for failing to serve, as they have been doing that for years. We, however, cannot continue to accept business as usual when it comes to the welfare of our children.

It is time to adjust our thinking. Our children are not just those to whom we are connected by blood or law. We must also count as our sons and daughters those who are living on the streets, as well as all those who are trapped in conditions of neglect and brutal physical and sexual abuse.

We also have to keep in mind that the children in need of rescue don’t necessarily live in poverty-stricken, single-family homes. They are not limited to certain ethnic, economic and social circumstances. Whether it is a squatter’s shack or an upscale mansion, there are many homes in this country which are places of mental, emotional and physical torture for our children. We need to save them all. The fact of the matter is that the cases that have made headlines and attracted so much national attention and debate are just the tip of a very large iceberg of suffering inflicted on our most innocent and vulnerable citizens.

Even if we had an efficient system of collecting data on the status of children in Trinidad and Tobago — and we don’t — it would not reveal the whole truth about how many of them are treated. The paedophiles, psychopaths and addicts who harm our children don’t operate only in predictable, stereotypical situations. Yes, they might be in the ghettos and gutters, but they are also in places of prominence and power, protected from detection by the facades and success and respectability they build around themselves.

The interventions necessary to stop those who prey on our children cannot be limited to the working class communities, the junior secondary and comprehensive schools, or the squatter’s shacks. They must be comprehensive, all-encompassing and sustained, if we are to save our children.

Also, we have to stop passing the buck. This is a massive, social problem and as many of us as are capable must play a role in solving it. We can’t look the other way, we can’t continue to be in denial about the fact that it exists and we must accept responsibility.

In this particular situation, if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

We must take an active interest in the welfare of the children in our families, neighbourhoods, the children of our colleagues and friends, the children in our churches and the ones who inhabit the sidewalks and beg us for money as we walk by.

Once we are aware of children in situations of abuse, neglect and abandonment, we must make it our responsibility to alert the relevant authorities.

Everything physically and legally possible must be done because too many of our children are in danger of becoming victims or offenders.

Children who are abused, even if they survive to adulthood, are scarred for life. They are at high risk of becoming abusers and offenders themselves. The trauma leaves invisible but deep rooted marks on their emotional and mental health which are difficult, but not impossible to erase.

That said, we must always keep in mind that our children are our most valuable resource, more vital to the future of this country than all the oil and natural gas and other material wealth with which we have been blessed.

Let us not be found guilty of neglecting them.

(ssheppard@newday.co.tt)