THE EDITOR, Sir:

Lord, have mercy! Oh, the pain! The awesome pain that our children are living! What is happening in our beloved Jamaica with our children?

It is now commonplace to see children subjected to the crass indecency of adults. Little children are hurried into taxis and buses with expletives. Still others wait by the wayside for the bus while impatient motorists make close shaves with their lives.

I am very concerned about those in schools and churches, where their pain is seen and known but the 'more comfortable' remain silent. What is it that makes a guidance counsellor or school principal comfortable while not reporting the glaring evidence of physical and emotional abuse of those in their care?

What is it that makes one comfortable with not seeking help for the child next door, the one whose 'guardian' is a source of pain, terror, and disease?

Who investigates?

Then there are the many children who are selling, begging, prostituting! Who investigates the children who say they are on the shift system but are selling ackees, apples, naseberries, etc, on both shifts? Are the boys on our streets condemned to the mercy of the streets?

Rabindranath Tagore maintains that "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man."

The children are right when they sing, "I am a promise ... I am a great big bundle of potentiality ..." Unfortunately, our response to their plight often seems to be that they are impossible beings without any potential to become more than our limited and prejudiced expectations for them!

Those persons who assess institutions charged with the care and nurture of children should beware of giving the authorities a pass while they leave God's precious little ones to tremble in the dungeons of hell! I invite anyone who reads this to do something positive for a child or children's institution today. Maybe it is for a child in your neighbourhood.

May God's grace keep us in this vocation of loving, respecting, and honouring every child.

I am, etc.,

Rev Fr SEAN MAJOR-CAMPBELL

Anglican priest

seanmajorcampbell@yahoo.com