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Don’t Mess with Our Children

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The Convention on the Rights of the Child (friendly version) states at number 19 heading among other others of equal importance that:

Protection from Violence – Governments must protect children from violence, abuse and being neglected by anyone who looks after them.

UN Convention on the rights of the child

In recent days Barbadians have been expressing outrage in response to the report of a teenager at the Government Industrial School (GIS) recorded naked in solitary confinement. The blogmaster is acutely aware the danger of blogging about matters involving children given the inclination by some in Internet fora to be irresponsible.

Troubling to the blogmaster is the breach of the rights of the teenager occurred while under the care of government. It is not lost on the blogmaster that in other jurisdictions persons charged with the responsibility of managing the GIS would have tendered resignations forthwith.

There is no need for the blogmaster to be prolix sharing thoughts on the heinous act that has occurred at the GIS. It should never have happened. Successive governments by mediocre decision-making are responsible. Adults whether employed at the GIS or parents are responsible. The country is responsible for protecting our children. Faith Marshall-Harris is correct when she reminds us that adults have a moral and LEGAL duty to report incidents of child abuse to the authorities- even if the abuse occurred at a government institution responsible for enforcing the very rights of children.

The blogmaster congratulates children advocates who champion the rights of children every day, every week and all the time. Blogs have been posted over the years (not enough) to expose challenges children face in the country. The number of comments these types of blogs garner is always an indication of the level of public interest in these types of matters. Then there is a predictable reaction when the matter currently provoking rage occurs. We are reactive to the inevitable.

The following related links were posted on Barbados Underground in 2017 to support a similar matter.

We do not place enough importance on little problems until there is a crisis situation.

The blogmaster refuses to consider the problems were not being highlighted to the management of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider the problems were not being highlighted to the Board of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the minister responsibly for the GIS and at other similar institutions over time.

The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the general population by current and former employees of the GIS and other over time.

When we make the logical conclusion what does it translate to?

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241 responses to “Don’t Mess with Our Children”

  1. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    David et al,

    May I suggest, that while the article holds a worthy position in calling for accountability, the issue may actually be deeper? You only have to look at the points made in the article to see the substantiation.

    Ask ourselves, is out culture still suffering the long term effects, the collective PTSD from slavery and the plantation era?

    The treatment of the child is nothing that would be amiss, whether in a plantation yard or in Victorian England. That it is still occurring in Barbados must trigger some thought that maybe the processes of those times still endures. That the Blogmaster’s questions drive home the understanding that not enough was done to act on these behaviours, should support the view that the issue is not random and not individual, but cultural? If it were not, it would have been acted upon.

    Maybe these incidents are proving the need for self examination and are literal proof of the requirements for reparations, for acts that still affect the cultural behaviours today?

    A few of us have consistently stated that the society still bears scars from plantation days. This is just another such scar.

    We see brutal treatment of children, alongside their families, every day on the news. Treatment meted our in the name of either control or freedom, but always by a few despotic leaders, with assistance by respective global allies.

    It is unacceptable. However, that is on the televisions, thousands of miles away. Yet, similar treatment being meted out locally should also not be tolerated.

    I honestly think that his tendency to violence is one of the most horrific scars from the plantation era. Treatment of people like animals, isn’t that direct from the plantation?

    We need to examine what behaviours are acceptable and what behaviours should guide is in future.

  2. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Good start David.

    I hope to see resignations, firings and an investigation to see if any of the management or employees engaged in abusing and trafficking the girls.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    Against the better judgement the above was posted to your persistence. There is a lot more that could have been posted but agree with you that the BU family needed the opportunity to contribute to the issue.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @Crusoe

    Will leave your observation to the social scientist and those in related fields.

  5. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    The problem is, if my observation is correct, the remedy is far deeper than only firings, prosecution etc.

    The remedies may also apply more widely.

  6. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    The best form of defence is to attack
    BU should contact authorities to determine what is the science behind an official policy of abusing children
    it sounds like the perps should be added to a sexual abusers register that would bar them working with children again

    Mojibe Ase is a concerned and protective mother who would take it one step further with a death sentence

    It Cyann Work
    A Wah Do Dem
    them lick them head
    Arise from the ashes of your mind
    Pedophiles Perverts Predators Parasites
    Them nowadays diseases
    me a chat about the sickhouse
    we a learn them prey upon the toddlers
    the youngster babies in a nappies and diapers
    inhumane behaviour brutality utter fallacy
    with no apology
    Predators Parasites Perverts
    goes beyond insanity
    never shall they flourish
    spiritually they are malnourished
    surely they will perish
    innocence be cherished
    self control and emotional intelligence
    is an offence to them
    They in there out their living hell
    simple dogs digging selfie graves
    bare faced non ashamed
    utmost disgrace
    but some well undercover
    a hide inna a closet and in a gutter
    me no stutter
    some orange heal medicine they need to cleanse their heart
    purify them thoughts mental retards
    one by one they shall surely fall
    tribulation must cease
    Cyann work with the beast
    Only justice brigs peace
    Scorching fire nah stop burn
    Wicked haffi learn
    Cease and settle

  7. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The PRISON SCAM against Black people that black governments on the island got going with criminal minorities, WANT SHUTTING DOWN…..they’ve been jailing and criminalizing for too many decades…..contracting to lock up Black children and adults only.

    https://www.theroot.com/kinder-gentler-cages-are-still-cages-how-prison-aboli-1846505239

    “Last summer’s racial reckoning was the first time many people in the United States ever heard of concepts like prison abolition and defund the police. In fact, there was a spike in online searches for the phrase “prison abolition” in early June 2020, according to Google Trends.

    And after President Biden issued four executive orders on Jan. 26, 2021—one of which specifically designed to end the use of privately operated prisons—many critics of the measure felt it did not go far enough, including prison abolitionist, Kim Wilson, Ph.D.

    “Getting people out the prisons should be the goal. And it is radical,” said the co-host and producer of the Beyond Prisons podcast. There are currently over two million people who are incarcerated in the United States.”

  8. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ David
    Not only Alma Parris. What about the Fun Ranch ?And now the GIS. These two should be closed down with a full investigation. We can’t pick and choose.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    We need urgent action.

  10. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @Skinner, “closed down” meaning what exactly!

    Malfeasance and or criminally negligent acts are to be condemned, investigated and prosecuted WHEREVER they occurs; that’s clear.

    However, these (types of) institutions are there because there is a NEED to provide care and nurture to minors who are orphans, abandoned, abused or wards of the state for indictable offenses … in short, they can no more be ‘closed down’ than can society erase all the evils that create their existence.

    We all know the issues NEED to be FIXED and actual nurturing care be provided to these kids but we ALL have to address the over-arching issues (failed social services management thinking, perhaps) rather than simply get outraged everytime one of these cases hit the front pages.

    @Crusoe, is EVERY vice a result of our plantation heritage!!

    People are EVIL (not all) and as far as I can tell from the pages of history -across all cultures- adults have ALWAYS taken advantage of minors.

    That does NOT make ANY acts at GIS or other such acceptable of course … that’s NOT the point… the point is that many of us cover our inherent compassion and empathy with unspeakable evil…Period. For many reasons – envy, vindictiveness, sexual perversion, mental depravity et al. .

    That we fall back on the evils meted out to our ancestors over 100 years ago is really a wobbly, broken crutch in instances like this.

  11. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @DPD
    I said closed down with a full investigation. I should have been clearer. Closed them down and carry out a full investigation into their operations. After the investigation the authorities would determine if they should be reopened , and what rules they must follow. I hope this is clearer.

  12. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    Let me first commend the blogmaster for creating this post. 👍👍

    I can understand his struggle to always act responsibly, but he must understand that BU covers a broad spectrum of readers and their interpretation of his actions will vary. Mariposa et al will describe his actions using their own yardstick, folks like me will wonder if there is something he is helping to cover-up and others may have a different opinion.

    Needles to say, I have confidence in the integrity of the blogmaster.
    —————————————xx———————————————–
    “When we make the logical conclusion what does it translate to?”

    Firstly, I agree with his refusal to consider the first three item which he cited. Why should he? To consider them would be to ignore reality. That is one of the definitions of insanity and I happen to believe the blogmaster is sane.

    But let me stress that from the little bits that I read it appears that:
    the problems were being highlighted to the management of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time,
    the problems were being highlighted to the Board of the GIS and at other similar institutions over time,
    the problems were being highlighted to the minister responsibly for the GIS and at other similar institutions over time

    ***The blogmaster refuses to consider that the problems were not being highlighted to the general population by current and former employees of the GIS and other over time.

    You should consider this. We Bajans have a love of secrecy that is only surpassed by members of the Cosa Nostra. Perpetrators often express their displeasure when victims speak-up; they desire to harm you and expect you to be silent.

    Here we see a story coming to life and the Minister responsible acting as if he was a member of the Mafia as he “invokes the code of Omerta”. He threatens whistleblowers and then reinforces his threats by setting the example of saying exactly nothing. He covers his incompetence with inaction

    The minister must act and speak out. The Minister must convince us that he has the welfare of citizens and children at heart. Silence is not golden. By his silence, he is condoning the “barbadic’ acts that happens in our institutions.

    Let me end here by borrowing from two bloggers above

    #2 Is there more behind the abuse of thes young girls? Why must they be naked? Are photos, peepholes and trafficking a part of the action? Until the Minister speaks out, these questions must remain on the table.

    #1 Has our past (slavery) conditioned us to be brutal to each other?

    Minister, we need to hear from you.

  13. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “#2 Is there more behind the abuse of thes young girls? Why must they be naked? Are photos, peepholes and trafficking a part of the action? ”

    SAY IT LOUD…it’s been years we were hearing about COVERUPS…

    none of it is above or beyohnd them, they would do anything to violate black human rights and then pretend they are better than Black people and then HIDE INFORMATION FROM THE POPULATION THAT COULD FREE THEM FROM BONDAGE…

    they can’t say they didNOT HIDE info so they can keep the Black population in bondage for their parasitic minority racist friends and themselves to feed off….I GOT THE PROOF….so there is no way ya can put anything PAST these dirty, repugnant black face sellouts…

  14. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Charles Dickens stories in 2021!

    What a disgrace!

    I don’t think the minister is going to get away with inaction this time.

    I sense a change in Barbadians. I hope he senses it too or he will go down in infamy!

    Our children must be our priority or the problem is magnified and permeates society for decades.

    What could be more important????

    A stitch in time saves nine!

    I will not be forgetting this in nine days.

  15. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The government will also have to be held accountable…FOR KNOWING ABOUT THIS…receiving MULTIPLE LETTERS…IGNORING THEM…refusing to address it…MALICIOUS ENABLERS of HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST HELPLESS CHILDREN…

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/18/hold-gis-accountable-ross/

    “Children’s advocate Shelly Ross is calling for heads to roll at the Government Industrial School (GIS) where a 14-year-old girl was said to have been photographed naked in a cell.

    Ross, who said she was not surprised by the report, is appealing to those in charge to do what is necessary to change how the institution is being run. She is adamant that the time has come for authorities to speak to the young people and parents who have been affected by the operations of the school.

    “The girls are telling us what is happening because they are the ones affected. But, there are many girls that don’t want to speak out. I have a girl right now who I am speaking to and she just cannot speak about anything that happened because she is so traumatized, she wants to forget it ever happened. And you have many girls like that.”

  16. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Let this SINK IN…

    “I know girls who have come out and went into prostitution. I spoke to another girl who recently came out and she said to me that she felt like a slave and she referred to the ‘wicked, spiteful’ people encountered and these are words that come from these children,” Ross said.

    Ross recalled that when the Government changed in 2018, Johnny Tudor took over the chairmanship of the board and soon after made sweeping comments about the operations at the GIS and called for the removal of the principal.

    “After that outburst by the new chairman, he went totally quiet. Not another word came out from GIS board about that situation. And if a person was so passionate about what he saw and could make those statements in his capacity as the chairman and then went into keeping quiet, then we could all guess what happened.”

  17. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ The Ogazerts March 19, 2021 4:09 PM
    “You should consider this. We Bajans have a love of secrecy that is only surpassed by members of the Cosa Nostra. Perpetrators often express their displeasure when victims speak-up; they desire to harm you and expect you to be silent.

    Here we see a story coming to life and the Minister responsible acting as if he was a member of the Mafia as he “invokes the code of Omerta”. He threatens whistleblowers and then reinforces his threats by setting the example of saying exactly nothing. He covers his incompetence with inaction

    The minister must act and speak out. The Minister must convince us that he has the welfare of citizens and children at heart. Silence is not golden. By his silence, he is condoning the “barbadic’ acts that happens in our institutions.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    What an enjoyment to share such mellifluously ‘poetic’ prose!

    What a perfect metaphoric use of an analogy with your choice of “Omerta”!

    Now you see why ‘(t)his’ administration’s ploy of establishing any anti-corruption police agency will always be seen by the more perceptive among us as nothing more than a Trojan horse.

    Without whistleblowers how can corruption- whether of the financial (graft) or abuse of authority version- ever be exposed to the public?

    Such disdain for the role of whistle-blowing in our pending republican democracy is tantamount to telling the citizenry to behave in the manner of the three stupid monkeys pretending to be wise with their motto:

    “See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil”.

    We only have to look to the Donvillegate affair to understand why the local law enforcement or ‘sting’ agencies were politically deactivated despite the behind-the-curtain screams of a local whistleblower.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    @Miller

    What about local media? What is the role and responsibility of the media to report on these matters. Falling standards at the GIS and other similar institutions were not unknown. Even to the Courts!

  19. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Miller…this cannot slide and in 3 months no one including bloggers remember it, now we will know who CARES ABOUT BLACK HUMAN RIGHTS …and who is only paying lip service..

    ..if you CANNOT protect your children….you are useless, if you allow governments to do as they like, while YOU THE TAXPAYER have to pay them…you are useless to your current and FUTURE GENERATIONS….

    i will do all in my power to MAKE SURE these FRAUDS yall have in Barbados and their sidekicks do NOT SPREAD THEIR SOCIAL POISONS and CANCERS to the continent using Black Bajans…….they have done MORE THAN Enuff TO DESTROY BLACK LIVES in 54 YEARS…

  20. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    I keep telling them that OUR ANCESTORS WENT NOWHERE…

    and

    THE AFRICAN IS WALKING THE EARTH…

  21. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ WURA
    Horror stories at these places go back to the sixties and some people even suggest longer. Many of these acts were committed by people in high places.
    Both the Fun Ranch and the GIS should have been closed and the children taken away until an investigation was completed.

  22. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    They still believe they can cover it up…with a former magistrate and child advocate acting like she knows nothing….when it’s been known for DECADES what these targeted children are subjected to…..

    they can hide and buy land but can’t hide and work it.

  23. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    William….people still remember the deceased Chief Justice…….none of this is new….it’s just that no one will allow it to be HIDDEN GOING FORWARD…especially not after they tried SO HARD…to keep the Black population in perpetual BONDAGE….instead of giving the people THE INFORMATION that can SET THE BLACK POPULATION FREE.

    what they’ve done is EVIL, UNCONSCIONABLE and UNFORGIVEABLE..

  24. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    William…they thought everyone either forgot or died off….and no one knows about the chief justice of the supreme court …….and the missing journalist…that no one has ever found of the Trinidadian…….but we know what they’ve done for decades with people’s vulnerable children….and now the WHOLE WORLD WILL KNOW TOO…..they deserve nothing less….scum of the earth…

  25. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    and the missing journalist…that no one has ever found A TRACE of the Trinidadian…

  26. David Avatar
    David

    Long road ahead’ for girl
    By Maria Bradshaw mariabradshaw@nationnews.com
    The 14-year-old girl who has been at the centre of much public debate this week was released on $10 000 bail yesterday and is no longer at the Government Industrial School (GIS).
    Sources told the Saturday Sun that the child appeared before a High Court judge on an emergency application for bail.
    When contacted, the girl’s attorneys, Sumaya Desai and Rasheed Belgrave, issued a statement explaining that they made an urgent application for bail on behalf of the minor who was being held at the GIS.
    “Bail was granted by the judge and the child was released into the custody of her parents who are relieved to have her at home,” they added.
    A source close to the situation said it was a cash bail.
    “The money is being held. That amount was for a non-violent crime,” the source said, pointing out it was noted in court that it was not the wandering charge which attracted the bail, but that the child was also accused of resisting and assaulting a police officer.
    “The child is as good as a child who has been through her experience can be. There is a long road ahead in terms of therapy and counselling and obviously the family is going to have a full medical evaluation done as soon as possible,” said the source.
    The juvenile made headlines when this newspaper broke the shocking story of her being placed in solitary confinement, also known as the “suicide cell”, naked and on a concrete floor at the girls’ unit of the GIS.
    A staff member was said to have protested, calling the treatment “inhumane”, and the child was eventually given a bare mattress to lie on.
    A photograph of the girl in the cell was also handed over to Marsha Hinds-Layne, deputy chairman of the GIS board, who for the past two years had been investigating reports of mistreatment of the girls at the institution.
    A source had explained that it was customary for children to be placed in the cell when they first entered the reform school, and they would not be allowed to wear clothes for a day or two.
    Started to make noise
    However, on the day of the incident, the child had been in the cell for 13 days and reportedly started to make noise over the poor quality of food she was being served.
    The food was then removed and she was given six biscuits with butter and a glass of water.
    “This further angered the child and she had a massive meltdown,” said the source, adding it was then that she was transported to the Psychiatric Hospital.
    “When she returned she was very calm and she was placed in the cell naked and curled up on the floor.”
    Hinds-Layne has since publicly called for the school to be closed and a new system put in place to cater to the needs of troubled teens. She also reiterated calls for children not to be charged for the offence of wandering.
    Meanwhile, host David Ellis engaged Attorney General Dale Marshall on Starcom Network’s radio call-in programme Down To Brass Tacks yesterday about Barbados’ child laws.
    Marshall admitted the laws were archaic and that Government was in the process of bringing more modern legislation.
    “Every single member of our Cabinet has been concerned about the state of our legislative arrangement dealing with children,” he said, adding they recently had meetings to prepare new child justice legislation.
    “The issues at Summervale and Dodds are very relevant because we begin by looking at child justice legislation. We recognise what we have been doing all these years. This administration, and the administrations that went before, were dealing with children on the basis of the Victorian concept.
    “We have a statute on the book called the Prevention of Cruelty To Children Act which dates back to 1924,” he said, adding that everything in relation to the issue of child justice had to be reformed. He also assured the public that the new legislation should be completed in about three months.
    In terms of the treaties dealing with children, which Barbados has signed on to, Marshall noted that the Caribbean Court of Justice had indicated that as long as a country was signatory to a treaty, the beneficiary of that treaty had a legitimate expectation, which was enforceable.
    “So even though we may not have incorporated the treaty into domestic law, as long as we have signed on to it we are still bound by it.”

    Source: Nation

  27. David Avatar
    David

    GIS issues nothing new, says advocate
    One of the few people who have publicly spoken out over the years about the perceived wrongdoings at the Government Industrial School (GIS) is adding her voice once again to the latest issue.
    Child advocate Shelly Ross told the Saturday Sun there was nothing new about the issues recently highlighted in the press concerning GIS since the breaches of the rights of children there had been aired on many occasions.
    “In 2016, I spoke out when a mother contacted me about her then 15-yearold daughter who was bitten by a worker there. In 2018, I supported two 15-year-old boys who were before the courts without legal representation and sent to Dodds.
    “Although they were only there for one week, one of the boys told me that he never knew people treat other people ‘like that’ after he experienced unbelievable treatment when placed in a cell for the entire week almost naked, hungry for almost the whole day, and cursed and shouted at.”
    Describing in detail some of the events, Ross said: “According to a young lady who I interviewed after she spent three years there, she learnt ‘the three Ts – tell lies, thief and talk people names’, while in the institution. Another child who recently came home referred to the some staff as being ‘petty and spiteful’. She had her jaw fractured and she said to me, ‘I got my mouth hurt while rough playing and I could not eat or open my mouth properly. I was in lots of pain and [they] would . . . not help me’. It took the intervention of the minister to get her medical attention.
    Mentally affected
    “Then there was the issue concerning three workers from GIS who were mentally affected, disgraced and humiliated; that cannot be forgotten. These ladies were at the time reporting on certain matters at the Barrows institution and were later accused of sexually abusing girls. They were sent on leave as the police did a full investigation which revealed that the claims could not be substantiated.”
    She charged that it was time to reform the correctional institution.
    Of the story which the last Sunday Sun broke in relation to a 14-yeargirl, Ross noted: “So the words ‘naked in cell’ may have once again put a spotlight on the issue. We need not lose another opportunity to force the much-needed reform at GIS where the current protocols, mechanism and accepted standards are inadequate and inappropriate as they tend to disregard the rights of the children at the institution.”
    She added: “While I understand the minister’s concern for what he considers a breach of privacy [in relation to a photograph taken of the child], I regret that he did not focus more on getting immediate reform at the school. I would have liked to hear an apology from him to the children, and that girl in particular, and to her parents, and his commitment to ensuring that no child there experiences any form of abuse under his leadership.” ( MB)

    Source: Nation

  28. Kammie Holder Avatar
    Kammie Holder

    I wish to say it’s reckless and lack of sound judgement to vaccinate our children so early in the game. It my layman opinion vaccines are mostly safe. However, I am also of the belief it’s just too early to say they are no long term contra-indications. Can you imagine the impact on our population if it’s later realized this or one of the many vaccines impacts reproduction. Do many of you know why no pilot on the same shift eats the same meal or top executives of the same company travel on the same flight?

    Perhaps, some will find it easier to dismiss concern and scoff at the messenger while ignoring what should be considered a legitimate concern when a Decision Matrix Analysis is done.Its just too early and we may just shoot out selves in the foot by this act rather than focusing on the vulnerable.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/19/doctor-explains-why-students-havent-been-vaccinated/

  29. Kammie Holder Avatar
    Kammie Holder

    While a COVID-19 vaccine is available for adults, the kid version is still in clinical trials. But do children really need one? In short, yes.

    Doctors can’t always tell which children are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19. A vaccine will lower their chances of serious complications. It’ll also help protect older adults around them who are high risk.

    In addition, children under 21 make up about 25% of the U.S. population. If many of them get a vaccine, the chance of herd immunity goes up. That’s when a lot of people are immune to a specific disease. If enough people are resistant to the cause of a disease, such as a virus or bacteria, it has no one to infect.

    Vaccine Trials for Children

    The FDA approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those age 16 and older. The Moderna and Janssen vaccines are for those 18 and older. These vaccines still mainly target adults, but some states also prioritize older children with intellectual/developmental disabilities or other medical conditions.

    Pfizer finished a clinical trial for children 12-15 years old and will soon start trials for younger ages. Moderna recently began vaccine studies for children 6 months to 11 years old and another for ages 12 to 17. Johnson & Johnson plans to start similar trials soon.

    Once vaccines reach approval for all children, the rollout will probably be like the distribution seen in adults, with higher-risk groups going first.

    Why Vaccines for Children Take Longer

    Children weren’t a part of the original clinical trials because they’re generally not as vulnerable as adults. The majority of the deaths during the pandemic — 92% — have been people age 55 and older.

    This doesn’t mean that children are immune to COVID-19. They simply have a lower chance of serious complications from the virus.

  30. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    Barbados GISchools reminds me of Canadian Residential Schools and the British Home Children, seems like we never learn from HISTORY and our previous good intentions.

  31. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    The cycle of dysfunction junction conjunction function always continues and carries on strong due to doing the wrong thing and not the right thing.
    Damage to sensitive and developing children is something that stays with them within them for the rest of their lives whether mental or physical harm from people in their surroundings or homes and often gets buried deep inside as a heavy burden to carry on their shoulder and is often a repeated pattern of behaviour as those who abuse were invariably abused too.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-tvbP_B98o

  32. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Title for a short story. ” From GIS to Bush Hill- The Journey.

  33. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    WIlliam…it’s still coming over 50 YEARS LATER…can’t get here yet…..just like the integrity legislation where they are trying hard to keep CORRUPT JUDGES, CORRUPT…and the anti-corruptioin legislation where they are trying TOO HARD to keep themselves CORRUPYA and DESTROY WHISTLEBLOWERS..that child should not be on any bail after having her human rights violated by SAVAGES….

    mind you, with my basic knowledge i can draft a decent legal document in 2 days….but not these FRUADULENT pedigrees (dog food)

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/20/child-justice-laws-still-coming/

    Amid widespread outcry about the treatment of girls at the country’s main juvenile detention facility, Government’s chief legal advisor has revealed that in three months, critical ‘child justice’ laws could be headed to Parliament.

    Attorney General Dale Marshall, who served as Home Affairs Minister under a previous administration said the laws would not be fast-tracked to satisfy public outcry.

    Speaking on the Down to Brass-Tacks radio call-in programme, he explained that in an effort to “get it right”, there have been numerous delays in the legislative drafting process.

  34. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The best thing the majority Black population can do FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS…if they plan to live entirely in a slave society with a colonial slave system and evil, covetous thieving racist minorities LIVING OFF THEIR LIVES……is to GET RID OF MIA AND HER TWO-LEGGED WILD ANIMALS…they have no respect for the Black population who HIRED THEM and pay their monthly salaries…AND NEVER WILL…

    let them figure out their colonial political shit, most of them cannot live without politics/corruption…pull the carpet from under the criminals…

  35. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    I am utterly distressed and humiliated by the learning about the way Bajan society treats vulnerable children. This is beyond outrageous… it is deliberate torture being carried out by brutal sadists. It horrifies me to the point that I do not know whether I can continue living in this place.

    Why have no criminal charges been filed against the staff who perpetuated these horrors?? Why has the entire institution not yet been permanently closed?? Why has the Minister not yet been fired??

    I know the answer… we are still living on a plantation with all the deep cultural damage that that has caused. I just do not know how much longer I can take it.

  36. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Ladies and gentlemen of the jury my client is most hated man on BU because of his use of powerful and emotive words. In what follows I will rely heavily on the work of Maria Bradshaw to defend my client. . Unlike my clients, I will make no attempt to appeal to your emotions, but I will assail with you facts.

    I urge you consider these facts and if at the end of your deliberation,you will have to decide if we are a society that protects and defend the less fortunate amongst us.

    In 2016, a15-year-old child who was bitten by a worker.
    In 2018, two 15-year-old boys were before the courts without legal representation and sent to Dodds.
    Children can be placed in a cell for a week almost naked, hungry for almost the whole day, and cursed and shouted at.”
    4 In this institution children quickly learn ‘the three Ts – tell lies, thief and talk people names’
    In this institution, children consider of the staff as being ‘petty and spiteful’.
    A child had her jaw fractured and the staff would not help her..It took a minister’s intervention to get medical attention.
    Workers who try to improve the system are then accused of sexual abuse, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
    Those who know state that “we need to force much-needed reform at “GIS where the current protocols, mechanism and accepted standards are inadequate and inappropriate as they tend to disregard the rights of the children at the institution”
    Children records become public records. After failing to secrete this child away from her lawyer and mother in a psychiatric institution, we now begin to see details of her “police record” being leaked to the press.
    10.The Minister, who threatens whistle blowers, has not called for an investigation in the public release of this information.

    Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I can go through those 10 items and make a passionate appeal to strengthen my case, but I believe that any one of the above items will tell you that we are not a society protects and defend the less fortunate amongst us.

    Like others, I have disagreed with many of his phrases, not because they were inaccurate, but because they were true and hurtful. You must decide in favor of my clien.

    ( Apologies to MB , if I have distorted her words. Have you noticed that is women probably mothers who are standing by these children who are speaking up. Have you notice that the one man, the minister, the most powerful voice remains silent. Does he think his cheap imitation of Rip van Winkle will get him through this?)

  37. TheoGazerts Avatar
    TheoGazerts

    Some typos, even after proof reading,

  38. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    (Polished for clarity)

    Ladies and gentlemen of the jury my client is the most hated man on BU because of his use of powerful and emotive words. In what follows, I will rely (heavily) on the work of Maria Bradshaw to defend my client. Unlike my client, I will make no attempt to appeal to your emotions, instead I will assail with you facts.

    I urge you consider these facts and at the end of your deliberations you will have to decide if we are a society that protects and defend the less fortunate amongst us.

    In 2016, a15-year-old child who was bitten by a worker.
    In 2018, two 15-year-old boys went before the courts without legal representation and were sent to Dodds.
    Children can be placed in a cell for a week almost naked, hungry for almost a whole day, be cursed and shouted at.”
    In this institution children quickly learn ‘the three Ts – tell lies, thief and talk people names’
    In this institution, children consider the staff as being ‘petty and spiteful’.
    A child had her jaw fractured and the staff would not help her. It took a minister’s intervention to get medical attention.
    Workers who try to improve the system are then accused of sexual abuse, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
    Those who know state that “we need to force much-needed reform at “GIS where the current protocols, mechanism and accepted standards are inadequate and inappropriate as they tend to disregard the rights of the children at the institution”
    Children ‘police’ records can become public records. After failing to secrete this child away from her lawyer and mother in a psychiatric institution, we now begin to see details of her “police record” being leaked to the press.
    The Minister, who threatens whistleblowers has not called for an investigation in the public release of this information.

    Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I can go through those 10 items and make a passionate appeal to strengthen my case, but I believe that any one of the above items will tell you that we are not a society protects and defend the less fortunate amongst us.

    Like others, I have disagreed with many of my clients phrases, not because they were inaccurate, but because they were true and hurtful. You must decide in favor of my client.

    ( Apologies to MB, if I have distorted her words. Have you noticed that it is the women, probably mothers, who are standing by these children and speaking up to protect them and change the system. Have you noticed that the one man, the minister, the most powerful voice remains silent. Does he think his cheap imitation of Rip van Winkle will get him through this?)

  39. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    PLT…now ya will learn about the chief justice, deceased who raped little boys, because he had a penchant for innocent boys, what about the ones who have a penchant for raping innocent little girls…

    i really don’t want to say, ya were bound to find out, but this is the trauma and distress the Black population have had to LIVE UNDER for DECADES…and the savages in the parliament DOUBLE DOWN instead of eradicating this evil in Black lives.

  40. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ WURA-War-on-U March 20, 2021 9:56 AM
    “Amid widespread outcry about the treatment of girls at the country’s main juvenile detention facility, Government’s chief legal advisor has revealed that in three months, critical ‘child justice’ laws could be headed to Parliament.

    [AG DM] who served as Home Affairs Minister under a previous administration said the laws would not be fast-tracked to satisfy public outcry.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    But the same legislative process was efficiently used to fast-track the legalization of the cultivation, processing and distribution of Satan’s plant called Mary Jane the whore now apotheosised to the saint called Medicinal Marijuana?

    Stop with the BS Mr. AG; that emergency piece of legislation has been on remand for the past 3 decades and it is more than overtime the abused victims be given their day in Parliament.

    You don’t have to reinvent the legislative wheel. Why not look at other models of legislative regime for the protection of children which reflect both the spirit and requirements of the “UN Convention on the Rights of the Child” to which pre-Victorian Barbados has been a mere show-off ‘founding-member’ signatory?

    Doesn’t the same GoB look to places like New Zealand, Canada and other Commonwealth member states to draft enlightened pieces of social and commercial legislation?

    If the GoB, under a previous BLP administration, could have been so forward looking as to pass and enact the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act why not prioritise similar legislation to protect the same children who could have been legally aborted and created further demographic challenges about which you lot like to complain as if an additional 80,000 readymade people is the magic portion for a ‘seminal’ solution?

  41. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ peterlawrencethompsonMarch 20, 2021 10:11 AM
    “Why have no criminal charges been filed against the staff who perpetuated these horrors?? Why has the entire institution not yet been permanently closed?? Why has the Minister not yet been fired??

    I know the answer… we are still living on a plantation with all the deep cultural damage that that has caused. I just do not know how much longer I can take it.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    That child is now being treated as a convicted criminal instead of a victim of the wicked evil system feeding Bajan society.

    We know that Bajans- all overdosed with their arrogant pride and ignorance- don’t want to look into their mirror and accept the image reflecting in their rose-tinted glasses hiding their ‘shockingly’ red eyes.

    Some of you might want to haul Hal Austin- the critic with the ‘expired’ overseas Bajan Condition- over the coals for his refrain about Barbados being a “Failed State.

    On sobering reflection, what is playing out here in this episode of the continuing saga of fiascos on the Bajan stage of Pure Buffoonery by a cast of political monkeys playing the judicial ass can only award the same Hal a pass with a “D” for Distinction.

  42. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    As to the question why does the Minister still have his job, wasn’t he an upgrade on the previous one? The PM has her fingers in every pie and I’ve yet to hear from her on this issue instead we had the Minister reading from a prepared statement and seemingly more concerned about who took a photo than about who perpetrated the abuse on the child.

    This is a country that long tolerated the corporal punishment of school children under the guise of “spare the rod and spoil the child” it is no coincidence that it spread to institutions where children are wards of the state and if wunnah think it is only minor children that are assaulted I’ve heard of at least one incident where an elderly patient at the QEH was assaulted by a nurse.

    Where there is smoke there is fire.

  43. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Barbados – The board game
    As I sit and read the contributions from various bloggers, I am wondering if we have become a board game as several bloggers have landed on different squares of the board
    Slave memory
    wicked ministers
    plantation
    various aspects of child and possibly sexual abuse
    I look at these bloggers and I know that some of them would prefer to remain silent, but the constant assault on their sensibilities has pushed them past the point where they can remain silent.

    The ‘mad woman’ is beginning to appear more sane than the rest if us.

    As de Miller has pointed out, some legislation can be rushed, but when it comes to defending the weak we then hear that we must take our time.

    The GoB hopes (knows) that this hot item will fall off our radar in a matter of days. Circle the wagons, lay low, say very little, send out a few armed with the potent words ‘overseas’ and ‘diaspora’ and in a matter of days it would have scattered these keyboard warriors.

    They hope to give us a six for a nine. Misdirection. Now is the time for the minister in charge of Dodds to take action and speak-up.

    AG Dale Marshall can shut to hell up (STHU). Somebody needs to tell him “Marshall Dale it’s Dodds not Dodge City and you are no Marshall Dillon”

  44. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “But the same legislative process was efficiently used to fast-track the legalization of the cultivation, processing and distribution of Satan’s plant called Mary Jane the whore now apotheosised to the saint called Medicinal Marijuana?””

    of course they will fast track the marijuana bill…they had already SOLD OUT….. and it was NEVER MEANT FOR THE BLACK POPULATION TO BENEFIT FROM….ONLY TO BE CRIMINALIZED FOR…

  45. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    If it just inaction replaced by ole talk then we must say “Marshall Dale, get to hell out of Dodds”

    Just wanted to just use that phrase.

    At some stage Dale Marshall may have to become involved in the Dodds affair but he must know that we don’t want to go from inaction to ‘ole talk’….

  46. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    @Wura… i hope you see my use of ‘mad woman’ is not meant as a a term of disrespect, but to show that you are more on the ball than most folks.

    Luv ya.

  47. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “The GoB hopes (knows) that this hot item will fall off our radar in a matter of days. Circle the wagons, lay low, say very little, send out a few armed with the potent words ‘overseas’ and ‘diaspora’ and in a matter of days it would have scattered these keyboard warriors.”

    That’s all they do, but this time they bit off way too much….CHOKING NOW…

    ya don’t work overtime to keep BLACK PEOPLE IN GENERATIONAL BONDAGE

    keep CRITICAL INFORMATION FROM THEM about their ancestral land AND BIRTHRIGHT in Africa of their current and future generatons,..

    hellbent on keeping the population UNDERNEATH the minority TRASH on the island to be OPPRESSED, SURPRESSED and DISENFRANCHISED…….and believe they are getting AWAY SCOT FREE….not going to happen…

  48. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Theo…i understand…..”mad woman” at your service…

    am taking what those TRAITORS did very personal…

  49. TheoGazerts Avatar
    TheoGazerts

    They never fix the problem.
    Americans has an opinion… “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. In Barbados, “the sqeaky wheel gets replaced”. They never fix the problem.
    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/20/charity-urges-investigation-into-gis-allegations/

  50. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    Barbados is a signatory to the following international instruments established for juvenile justice
    1. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC)
    2. United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice 1985 (Beijing Rules)
    3. United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty1990 (JDLs)
    4. United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency 1990 (Riyadh Guidelines)
    We are clearly in breach of many if not all of these instruments.
    What is the procedure for taking legal action against the government to enforce compliance with our obligations under these??

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