Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Pisgah Primary youth take stand against child abuse

Published:Tuesday | May 23, 2023 | 12:30 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
Pisgah Primary and Infant School students take part in their demonstration against child abuse last Friday.
Pisgah Primary and Infant School students take part in their demonstration against child abuse last Friday.

WESTERN BUREAU:

Their voices were loud, unshakable, yet meek. Their clarion call to Jamaican ‘Big Men’ serving as a demand to put a stop to sexual, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, allowing them a childhood free of scars.

Seventy-five vulnerable placard-bearing students of Pisgah Primary and Infant School in the deep rural district of St Elizabeth called to their community for protection against prospective abusers last Friday during a march in their area in honour of Child Month.

Staged under the theme ‘Children Need Our Love and Protection’, the pre-primary and primary students used Omaall ‘Majah Bless’ Wright’s poem Hey Big Man to send a strong message, and when they were asked what they should do if propositioned, a resounding, “Report them!” was the response.

Pisgah, a quiet farming community, borders Westmoreland northeast, and the school’s administrators say the exercise was aimed at education and public awareness for the children. There is no secret that Jamaica’s children are being raped, sexually abused, trafficked, beaten, and killed, often by people they know and trust.

“We hear of abuse in other communities, and a lot of time you realise all these levels of abuse are coming home to roost in our community, so we need to strike an alert, educate them, so they can be aware,” said Colin Reid, a teacher of 29 years at Pisgah.

A total of 93 students are enrolled at the educational institution, and Reid noted that they are Jamaica’s future and that destroying that future will rob the country of leaders critical to its survival.

“Right here we have prime ministers, leaders of the Opposition, and all those persons in our midst. It means, therefore, that we need to harness as much as possible from them. We need to ensure that they develop as children,” he argued.

Reid pointed out the important role of parents, teachers, and the community in securing this development.

Standing behind him, the innocence of the children was not lost as they repeated the words from the poem that has become a national anthem of sorts for children.

“Hey Big Man/ ‘Low di lickle pickney,/Gwaan wid you sweetie/You cyaan trick mi,/Tek you ole car and gwaan weh you a guh, pervert/Mi nuh wah nuh drive from yuh.”

Perhaps the most poignant were the warnings not to speak to strangers, but to run and call for their neighbours, become cognisant of good touch and bad touch from family members, whether of feminine or masculine gender.

According to the 29-year educator, Pisgah is a family unit, and if ever there are cases of abuse at the school, they meet as a body, discuss the situation with the parents, and summon the relevant bodies such as the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) and the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).

He said something as traumatic as sexual, physical or mental abuse will affect a child’s ability to learn.

“This is where we step in, lending a helping hand, doing everything possible to ensure this child gets back to speed,” said Reid.

He added: “We must be on the alert, in order to arrest and correct these problems.”

Friday’s march equated to a cry for understanding and empathy.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com