A member of the judiciary has warned parents that a fine could be imposed on them if their children are continuously absent from school without a legitimate reason.
“If your child does not attend school, the Attendance Officer will bring a charge against you,” according to Registrar of the Supreme Court of Barbados, Barbara Cooke-Alleyne Q.C.
“You the parent will be brought to the court – you the parent, your name is on the charge sheet. You have to tell the court why your child has not been attending school.”
She made this clear during Saturday’s 11 + Parents Webinar Series “Promoting a Positive Future: Arresting Crime Among Our Youth,” in collaboration with the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit and The Maria Holder Memorial Trust.
However, Cooke-Alleyne said that it is unfortunate that the fine is a small amount of only $50.
“It might not really ‘hurt’ a parent, but in this COVID time it might hurt some of them a bit more. But also, there is the fact they have to take time off from work to be there and this is not the time to be away from work.”
The Registrar, addressing “Parental Responsibility in the Juvenile System” also advised that under the Juvenile Offender Act, it is mandatory for a parent to be present when their child is scheduled to appear behind the court.
While acknowledging that some parents are no shows because they are fed up with the child’s behaviour, she made it clear, “It is mandatory to be there to represent your child; hear what is going on with your child; and how you can help your child.”
“If you don’t come, we will send a summons for you and if you still don’t come, we will send a warrant to arrest you and remand you so you can understand the importance of being a parent in the child’s life,” she stressed.
Inspector (Ag) Roland Cobbler said that children involved in delinquency is a major concern.
In examining the statistics from the Juvenile Liaison Scheme, he revealed that the number of children being referred to the department for general behavioural problems, or being in conflict with the law has remained constant over the last five years with over 200 referrals being made consistently.
“This is a worrying trend taking into consideration that from a criminological perspective research shows that children who engage in delinquency, are likely to engage in adult criminality,” Cobbler pointed out.
The Officer-in-charge of Community Policing and Juvenile Liaison Scheme went on to explain that young people today face considerable challenges in creating a bright future for themselves.
“Research has identified various risk factors that contribute to young people becoming involved in crime. In other words, Juvenile delinquency or young people engaging in criminality can be described as a multifaceted problem with various contributory factors.”
Moreover, Cobbler said that ‘prevention’ can address the risks facing many children, while boosting protective factors, making them less likely to become delinquent.
“Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that can help people deal more effectively with stressful events and mitigate or eliminate risk. In this regard, there are a number of protective factors that can help insulate young people from the dangers of falling into delinquency. And protective factors may lessen the likelihood of youth violence, victimization or perpetration. These can be classified under Individual Protective Factors, Family Protective Factors, and Peer and Social Protective Factors,” he said. (TL)
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