Save our families; save our children

With at least 26 children killed since the start of the year and more than 700 reported missing, The Gleaner, last week, during an Editors' Forum at the company's North Street head office, asked some of the persons working assiduously to help the most vulnerable in our society what action they would like to see other Jamaicans take to help protect our youngsters.

Lisa Hanna

Minister of Youth and Culture

"Child protection is the business of all of us!"

Rosalee Gage Gray

Chief Executive Officer, Child Development Agency (CDA)

"I would like to say to our adolescents, 'Wait to have children because it is an awesome responsibility'."

Greig Smith

Registrar of the Office of the Children's Registry

"As citizens, let us all see the responsibility of the care and protection (of the nation's children) as our business."

Grace Ann Stewart McFarlane

Senior director of the Children's Affairs Division in the Ministry of Youth and Culture

"Get everybody involved, not just the adults in the act, but also the peers. Sometimes, the cousins and the friends know what is happening, so we want to get everyone involved."

Melody Samuels

CDA's clinical psychologist for the north east region

"We need to acknowledge that we have a problem. We need to come together in terms of government agencies and private sector and focus our energies on helping people to be better parents."

Cherena Forbes

CDA's clinical

psychologist for the south east region

"Don't give up on the children; early intervention is key."

Keisha Tomlinson

Psychologist with the Ministry of Youth and Culture

"Fathers need to love their children and value themselves."

Sadie Keating

Senior advisor to the Ministry of Youth and Culture

"Forget the blame game! Get with it, and get into treating our children better."

Joan Young Davis

Senior director and consultant in the Ministry of Youth and Culture

"Just to connect the dots and get a little bit more proactive in understanding that there are certain things that are cause and an effect, and sometimes we do not connect the dots."