LETTER OF THE DAY - Misplaced values on children's rights

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Jamaica is a funny place when it comes to this thing of values and attitudes. We are far more comfortable with holding our wayward children accountable for their actions than we are with holding our elected officials accountable for theirs.

So, children who have been deemed 'uncontrollable', who have not been convicted of any criminal offence, can see themselves committed by a court to spend the rest of their childhood years incarcerated in a juvenile correctional facility - or, in the case of girls, in an adult prison.

A child who has been charged with a crime - even a non-violent one - can find himself incarcerated at Metcalfe Street Juvenile Remand Centre for months, even a year, awaiting a trial.

For these children, 'innocent until proven guilty' means nothing. Our society and our leaders are quite content to have them experience the same circumstances that would face them if they were convicted of something. They are, after all, only 'bad pickney'.

But our elected leaders are a completely different matter. We expect very little from them, so when they mess up, we don't insist on accountability. When they make decisions which waste millions of dollars of taxpayers' money, we accept it as "youthful exuberance" and move right along. When they, by their own admission, take actions which breach government regulations and guidelines, we accept them as "procedural errors" and protect them from any consequences, "until the investigations are completed".

THE BUCK STOPS NOWHERE

We make no distinction between the 'innocent until proven guilty in a court of law' protection and the higher standard of 'honourable behaviour' which we should expect of those on whom we bestow the title 'Honourable'. We don't expect anyone to offer their resignation to allow for an investigation to be carried out or because something happened on their watch. The buck stops nowhere at all, as far as we are concerned.

So a child who repeatedly runs away (because she is being abused at her home or at the facility in which the State has placed her) is likely to be deemed uncontrollable and placed in Fort Augusta. But a minister who repeatedly 'runs with it' is likely to be re-elected and given more ministerial appointments.

As I said, Jamaica is a funny place when it comes to this thing of values and attitudes.

SUSAN GOFFE

susangoffe@gmail.com

Kingston 8