I am indebted to Sian Williams and Janet Brown for allowing me the use of their Literature Review on Caribbean Child-rearing Practices, an unpublished working paper, for the information used in this article. It highlights some characteristics of child-rearing in Jamaica, which I think we need to address as a society.

Studies on families in poor suburban Jamaica show that although children expe-rience a rich social life and authoritarian discipline, there is little conscious encou-ragement of play or verbal interaction that they receive from adults. There was a lack of set routines for children, such as bedtime.

The impact of poverty on space in the family yard or home is noted. Adequate space is not available for children to develop identity and social skills. In addition, very few children have parents who read to them. There is limited play or reading material in the home and very few educational toys such as puzzles and playing blocks. There is a lack of supervision of the children at home where parents are absent or leave early for work. Therefore, the children are often late to school or play truant in these situations.

widespread poverty

Since the extent of poverty in Jamaica is so widespread, one asks the question, "What can we expect from mothers who are themselves ignorant of what is taught in schools to their children?" If the level of education of our parents is below the level where they can assist their children with school work then the education system needs to be designed to address that reality. We, therefore, need to look at establishing homework times at school as a part of our curriculum. The Government would need to pay teachers enough to facilitate this.

The review finds that the effect of poverty on child-rearing is enduring. It has an impact on the children's development and behaviour, the learning environment and social exposure. Poverty among children is linked to early motherhood, which in turn has a damaging effect on children. The evidence is that the earlier the first pregnancy the greater the risk for the child.

Of particular interest are the findings that show that - children do get a great deal of affection up to about age five but there is little family time spent together such as meal times and this in turn affects verbal interaction and language development. Even when adults are present there is no effort made to get the children to talk to them; and there is limited attempt to praise children and give them positive guidance or direction; instead, the practice is to react to children's misbehaviour with threats and anger.

This description rings true, since I observe that for many teenage mothers the babies are like dolls to play with until they begin to talk back to them, then the frustration is played out in anger and abuse. The child is no longer fun and now becomes a burden to the young mother. The father is usually not a part of the scene.

These beliefs and attitudes influence child-rearing - children are highly valued by many in the society and they should obey their parents, but little value is given for play as being good for children's development; parents depend more on child-rearing practices and beliefs that have been handed down from previous generations than on the advice and gui-dance of experts.

socialisation

The research recognised the importance for child development of a safe, healthy, caring and stimulating home environment, basic learning resource, and an adult caregiver or someone who is ready to read to the child each day and eventually to listen to the child read to him or her.

The review also looked at the role of fathers in the socialisation of their children. In a study done in the Jamaican urban setting it was noted that roughly one-half of fathers live with families, fathers in visiting unions spend about four hours each week with their children and half of the fathers never took their children on an outing. From this and other reports what emerged was a desperate cry for fathers to get involved in the care and support of their children.

The report further shows that the basic expectation of a father is to provide financially and also to be a protector. When a man fails to provide financially he usually sees himself as a failure and absents himself from the family situation. The man does not value the role of assisting in the home as much as being able to provide financially. The woman also tends not to allow the man access to the family if he is not able to provide economically. This practice is damaging to a child's psyche.

DESTABILISERS

The review notes that 'outside' children appear to be more psychologically vulner-able than 'inside' children. Men tend to have children early in their lives to prove their manhood, but these children later tend to act as destabilisers to new families. This child is usually sacrificed by one or both parents to preserve their new families.

The report from a study done in 2001 showed that "80 per cent of children had only a single mother or father figure.

The relationship between parents had proven to be very unstable with more than 40 per cent of biological parents reporting no relationship with each other by the time their child was six years old."

How do we move from this reality to what Maureen Watson and Barry Davidson describe as healthy families in this country of ours? Healthy families communicate and listen, affirm and support one another, teach respect for others, develop a sense of trust, have a sense of play and humour, exhibit a sense of shared responsibility, teach a sense of right and wrong, have a strong sense of family in which rituals and traditions abound, have a balance of interaction among members, have a shared religious core, respect the privacy of one another, value service to others, foster family table time and conversation, share leisure time and admit to and seek help with problems. To be a strong nation we must find ways to build strong families. Stronger families, stronger nation!

Esther Tyson is principal of Ardenne High School, St Andrew. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleamerjm.com.