Churches, villages urged to step up to safeguard children
Published:Wednesday | June 18, 2025 | 12:09 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Highlighting the Church’s vital role in shaping young lives, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon is calling on religious institutions to become more actively involved in schools, particularly in supporting children who are experiencing abuse.
“It is important to pray, but it is just as important that we do the work that God has told us we must do, and that takes place in the schools and working with these beautiful children,” she said.
She emphasised the need for safe spaces where children can speak about their experiences and receive necessary intervention.
Morris Dixon, the minister of youth and education, made the plea while speaking on Tuesday at the Jamaica Council of Churches’ (JCC) Service of Lament for Violence Against Children held at the Kingston Parish Church.
More than 150 children were murdered and just over 4,000 sexually assaulted in Jamaica over the five-year period that ended last year.
While The Gleaner was unable to obtain updated figures for this year up to press time, the nation is still reeling from the shock of several tragedies involving children, including the murder of nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon, whose partially nude body was found inside a barrel at her home in Spanish Town, St Catherine, on May 9.
TRAGEDY
On May 21, four-year-old Gia Griniell from Mandeville, Manchester, died from a gunshot wound to the back of her head.
“We must not forget any of those fallen children. Those names must be said over and over again so that people can feel the emotion and move it from just a statistic. They are real children,” Morris Dixon said.
The minister noted that the Government is currently pursuing amendments to the Child Care and Protection Act, including harsher penalties for crimes against children. However, she stressed that legislative change is not enough.
“Where’s our plan for the Church to take over our schools and to help our children to navigate this world that they are in, with all the challenges that they have? It is absolutely important that we move from lamentation to actual work to protect our children,” she said.
Morris Dixon also pointed to a “serious breakdown” in parenting, suggesting that the Church can play a critical role in addressing this gap.
“One of the biggest issues we have in our schools is parenting and the lack thereof. Their parents are not taking them to church, their parents are not teaching them good values, their parents are opening them up to abuse, and so we have to take on a larger role in our schools,” she said.
Priscilla Duhaney, spokesperson for Hear the Children’s Cry, echoed these concerns and proposed a 10-year plan to tackle harmful parenting practices.
“We want to see the creation of family programmes, viewership of messages on social media platforms, an increase in the number of parents participating in parent-teacher association, reduction of student suspension, reduction in case of domestic disputes,” she said.
JCC President Bishop Christine Gooden Benguche reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to being a national voice for children’s rights.
WE MUST REMEMBER
“Every single year, they must never forget the children who have died in this country. It must be brought to light; we must remember them. We must remember the families that are hurting,” she said.
Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison condemned the many forms of violence faced by children – physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, and trafficking. She urged all citizens to report suspected abuse, as mandated by law.
“If we don’t, we collectively would have failed. We would have arrested and interrupted the smooth development of a child. Because we know that violence against children has long-lasting effects on children,” she said.
Child Protection and Family Services Agency CEO Laurette Adams-Thomas echoed similar sentiments.
“The State cannot be mother, father and neighbour to every child. We need you,” she said. “We need to build back the village, and this is more than a slogan, it is a biblical command to return to communal responsibility to watch over our children together.”