Parents encouraged to give more support to their children

Parents are being urged to provide more love and support for their children to help reduce instances of them running away from home.

A father whose son went missing for a few days says such an ordeal can be devastating and is encouraging parents to play more active roles in the lives of their children.

"Show them love because if you don't they are going to go out and seek the wrong kind of love," the father said.

He was among parents and children who participated in a virtual forum on Tuesday put on by Betty Ann Blaine, founder of Hear the Children's Cry, and Dr Donovan Thomas, president of Choose Life International, to mark International Missing Children's Day.

The father called for parents to be vigilant, observant, and supportive of their children and also encouraged kids to speak out about issues affecting them.

Meanwhile, former missing children, who were referred to as 'victors', spoke about why they left home.

One teenager said he ran away because of poverty.

"I could not bear to see my mother crying because she could not provide for us," he said.

He is back at home now and said that he is studying very hard so that he can get a good education and a job to help his mother. 

Another teen said he felt hopeless when he ran away but is now happy to be home.

And mothers who spoke at the forum praised the police and Hear the Children's Cry for their support in helping them to locate their missing children.

They noted that it was traumatic for them when their sons and daughters went missing. 

For his part, Thomas, author of the book 'Confronting Suicide - Helping Teens at Risk' and former director for Jamaica Youth for Christ, pointed out that some children ran away from home for various reasons including a sense of hopelessness, lack of love, sexual and physical abuses as well as community pressures.

The children, he said, needed someone to listen to them and give them strong support.

He reminded the audience that research had shown that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a higher vulnerability to depression and "we are recognising that with the isolation and lockdown, children become more depressed, developed mood swings, and so we need to be more aware of what is happening."

And while noting that more needs to be done, Blaine said her organisation continues to offer programmes for the protection and care of children.

She called for parents and guardians to make reports as soon as they are aware that their children were missing.

Dr Felicity Sackville Norcott, director of the Global Missing Children Centre for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, said she was pleased that the organisation's technology was being used to engage the public to search for the far too many children who have gone missing in Jamaica.

"We can listen and learn from the victors and their families. The lessons learned from these brave young people and those who love them can be and should be used by all of us to do better for all children who go missing around the globe," she added.

- Barbara Gayle

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