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what a ting. Maybe I am dense, or perhaps need another coffee but I can't seem to fathom how a curfew aimed soley at children in uniform will help to prevent abuse and exploitation of children. How is a child in uniform on the street at 10pm any different than a child in regular close on the street at 10pm? Are they still not the same child??
According to Major Steer, the proposals are for a three-tiered uniform curfew intervention policy, aimed at protecting school children under the age of 18 years.
She said that the first step in the system would be to establish trained uniformed wardens.
"These persons must be employed for that specific role. We should have observers trained and appointed to watch," Major Steer said.
She explained that a Tier One (Congenial Contact) response would run from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
"The first intervention is pretty calm, the person is not invasive, and they may just go and have a conversation just to feel out: why are you here, how are you doing and basically just be comfortable that the person is not in danger," Major Steer said.
"As you know most schools have shift systems, so we are trying to establish what would be a suitable time period to become really concerned," she added.
Tier 2 response (Firm Contact) would be established 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., when the uniform curfew warden would approach children in uniform in numbers of three or less, and establish a firm presence and tone. Detailed information would be recorded and forwarded to the school or the Parent Teachers Association (PTA).
"<span style="font-weight: bold">So, we will not only record (the information) but, for this level, you bring that information to the school that we notice that students from that school are on the road at this time of the day, and they could not explain why they were lingering on the road," Major Steer stated.</span> <span style="color: #CC0000">Once again removing the sense of responsibility from the parents and placing it on the education system...
how does that make sense??? </span> <span style="font-weight: bold">The Third Tier Response (Disciplinary Response) would be established after 8:00 p.m., when the uniform curfew warden will escort any child in uniform to a holding area, where the intervention will be documented, and from where they can be picked up by the parent/guardian, or the state will make provision to escort/transport the child home.</span>
In his comments, Mr. Montague said that the proposed 8:00 p.m. cut off time could be "a little bit early", because children may be legitimately on the streets at 8 p.m. coming from extra lessons.
"So we might have to look again at the eight o'clock hour but, then again, where do you draw the line, where is the balance? Because, if you say 10 p.m., some people might say that is too late, some people might say it is too early," Mr. Montague argued.
He added it is hoped that the Municipal Police attached to each Parish Council would be used as the uniform wardens.
"But, we are not there yet to definitively say yes, it would be vested with the Municipal Police as wardens, or we will employ specific wardens for specific areas. We are not there yet," Mr. Montague said.
.................................. di ress a di ting It is also hoped that the Ananda Alert System will be launched in March.
Ananda Alert, is a nationwide missing children emergency network modelled after the United States' Ananda Alert and inspired by the death of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, whose mutilated body was found in bushes in Kingston, almost two weeks after she disappeared from her home last September.
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