Hear The Children’s Cry supports call for greater vetting of content children are exposed to

Child rights advocacy group, Hear The Children’s Cry, has asserted that the recent reports of a sexual assault incident at a primary school in Kingston is another glaring example of the fact that Jamaica is morally on a slippery slope, with children bombarded with sexual images and lyrics.

It has joined the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica in calling for better vetting of the content to which children are exposed.

Hear The Children’s Cry Director, Nigel Cooper, says there is also a nationwide need for more effective protection or parenting of the young, especially in small homes and under-served communities.

“Parents have to be held responsible for their young children. However the wider society must also bear responsibility, especially when we consider that many parents of young children are very young themselves, some even falling within the definition of a child, by their age,” he said.

He also notes that inadequate living conditions do not help the situation, for instance, where adult conversations and activities are in view and earshot of children because of lack of space.

"Our sources say that the popular game of ‘Jook’ has taken a radical turn in some primary schools, and now involves taking off undergarments and jumping on each other," he said.

Another spokesperson for the group, Priscilla Duhaney, notes: “It is a matter of grave concern that the music, and sexual content in the media as a whole is prematurely stimulating our children. The fact that we are constantly battling against sexual/immoral behaviours, especially in recent times, points to our need to place greater emphasis on preserving our children’s innocence, at a national level."

She is calling for an investigation of the environment in which the 11-year-old boy implicated in the school incident lives to see whether he was exposed to pornographic content, or has been a victim of sexual abuse himself.

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