Children have rights too!??Attorney General, Adriel Brathwaite, stressed this point moments before joining the Action for Justice March for Child last Saturday in Bridgetown.
Mr. Brathwaite, who is also Minister of Home Affairs, said while many spoke of legislation, the reality was that behaviour could not be legislated.
What was required, he said, was for persons to practise the message of loving their neighbour as themselves, and to ???do unto others as you would have them do unto you???.
He further called for everyone to treat each other with dignity and respect, so that children too would learn respect.??During his address, the Minister stressed that parents and guardians needed to teach children that they too have rights.
???They have the right to shelter, the right to food, and the right not to receive corporal punishment, although we in Barbados still believe that we have the right to flog our children,??? he stated.
Mr. Brathwaite added that he was saddened by the news of the 12-year-old boy who was found hanging last week, and stated that such incidents showed that ???systems have failed???.
???When something like that happens I ask what could we have done???.; what could we have done to support the family, to support the mother etc.; that???s what we need to do,??? he suggested.
The Minister thanked the organisers of the event and reminded those present that even though Government could do all in its power legislatively to protect children, everyone in society had to recognise that child abuse was a ???no???.?????We really need to do all that is possible to support all of our children,??? Mr. Brathwaite urged.
Saturday???s march started at Independence Square, The City, and travelled along Wharf Road, Princess Alice Highway, Jubilee Gardens, Lower Broad Street, and back to Independence Square.
julia.rawlins-bentham@barbados.gov.bb