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A Time To March

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Submitted by Dr. Grenville Phillips II

I read the Child Protection Bill (2023) and found that I would certainly be found guilty, and liable for a fine of $100,000 and 10 years in prison for being a normal parent.

Either the bill is extremely poorly written, or there is an agenda to make all Barbadian parents guilty and liable for the same fine and imprisonment.

PARENTS’ RIGHTS

The Minister claimed that parents’ rights are protected in Article 5. I read Section 5 and I did not find it. However, throughout the Bill, the main rights for parents appear to be the right to be fined, imprisoned, and to have their children taken from them – for being normal parents.

The Minister declared in the House of Assembly that the fine should be one million dollars. Lord have mercy! He also encouraged persons who objected to the Bill to come forward to a Select Committee where they would be heard. But there was a condition – “where they align with what we are trying to do.”

NOT ALIGNED

If what they are trying to do is what they have written in the Bill, then I am not in alignment.

My son is now an adult. However, I cannot simply watch other parents in this new jeopardy without doing something. I have written twice about this. It is now time for me to march.

Grenville Phillips II is a Doctor of Engineering and a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

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93 responses to “A Time To March”

  1. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David, there were not any agendas to pursue as it relates to the old laws. Someone even introduced Trump into the ‘discussion.’ Look at domestic violence. In many cases after a woman is killed as a result of abuse, for exmple, investigations often reveal neighbours, relatives and friends were aware of the situation and not suprised the relationship ended fatally. But, they did not render any assistance, because they deemed the situation not to be their business.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    Are you serious? The numbers of abused children reported is the tip of the iceberg. We have to do better to create a safe space to receive many more victims of abuse.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    We have become a polarized and hypocritical society.

  4. The Five People You Meet in Heaven Quotes Avatar
    The Five People You Meet in Heaven Quotes

    “Our eyes are different. What you see ain’t what I see.”

    Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them – a mother’s approval, a father’s nod – are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.

  5. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Bush Tea, two words for you, FUCK OFF!

  6. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Indeed, the fines should be of concern. I don’t know what they should be, but when fines are put beyond the reach of Average Joe, then every Joe goes to jail.

    What concerns me most of all is that a discussion of gender identification or LBTQ+ matters between a parent and a child could enter the territory now called abuse.

    It is good that some have taken the time to point out that the wording of the bill is not as precise as one would expect for a legal document. In a land where some pride themselves on possessing the skill of wordsmithing, it is unfortunate that new legal instruments are often poorly worded.

  7. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Indeed, I noticed the introduction but refrained from entering the 🍎s part of the 🍊s discussion.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    It is not surprising you would not see how lgbtq would emerge in the conversation. A good starting point for you is to listen to those advocating changes to the Bill, especially Felicia Dujon.

  9. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Social problems created by White people for Blacks cannot be fixed by the systems thusly.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    Nothing wrong with all actors identifying areas of the Bill they believe can be improved, it is what we should be trained to do. Instead what do we get?

  11. God's wrath Avatar
    God’s wrath

    People need to stop obsessing about less than 3% LGB

    Changes were deemed contentious 20-30 years ago due to cultural prejudice and man made religious social laws, but had less impact than the emotional shrill objections made. The world did not end due to the anger of an imagined Man up in the sky above.

  12. Critical Analyzer Avatar
    Critical Analyzer

    Abuse itself has become an abused word now used to stignatize actions not traditionally considered abuse as abuse.

    Making my girlfriend cry by telling her she getting fat because she put on a few too many pounds can now be considered verbal abuse in many quarters.

    Too many things are being blownup out of proportions by people with power to satisfy personal agendas.

  13. Critical Analyzer Avatar
    Critical Analyzer

    I believe it is purposely done by lawyers to put more money in fellow lawyer pockets and breed a certain level of corruption to pay people to fix certain matters from going before the law courts because no one knows which way the judge will interpret the badly written law possibly incurring heavy fines and or jail time.

  14. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    ​@ David, at root the remarks by the BushGriot @9:22 are bluntly accurate … our nation (teachers etc) has been managing the issues of ‘child abuse’ for generations BUT there is a need to update relevant legislation. HOWEVER, one cannot introduce “draconian” punishments which will themselves deeply burden the same society supposedly you are trying to protect.

    The legislation must smartly be fit for purpose for Bim … not a rehash of US or UK or Canadian laws!

    Are we also going to be set up to better handle any higher numbers of foster children taken from these more heavily regulated “abusive” homes; are some of these parents who surely are more and more drug impaired (leading to mental impairment issues also) going to have treatment options once they have been identified as abusers; and will the “abused” children also be handled accordingly with relevant treatment facilities.

    Of course one understands that such systems are already in place BUT the point is the impact of these new regs: are these systems ready to meet that impact!

    How many times have we lamented that whereas in US for example where children will call officials (like our local Child Care Board or police) for an ‘abusive’ parent when the parent disciplines them harshly ‘CAN’T happen bout hea’ !

    Well now it can, as the child can now legislatively “… freely express his views”!

    Thus, as said above: a minor child can also freely determine that his or her “gender” identity is NOT a fit with his/her biological identity!

    Successive administrations have done NOT ENOUGH to fix the issues of increasing teen pregnancies; increasing instances of adolescent drug use/boys on the block etc; or indeed sexual exploitation/harassment of teens by adults (teachers, mentors) but now this supposedly
    benign new Child Protection Bill is before us … it will be a horrid outcome unless those other issues are aggressively addressed too.

    The fact is that there are kids in Bim in 2023 who go to school hungry with no breakfast and are beholden to graciously kind teachers and others who provide sustenance for them….

    Looka, life is about change so do update the old regs fah sure but we gotta be PRACTICAL as well and get our house in proper order FIRST … regardless of MONEY/BRIBERY from these international orgs!

    Lata.

  15. Fines vs Income Avatar
    Fines vs Income

    “HOWEVER, one cannot introduce “draconian” punishments which will themselves deeply burden the same society supposedly you are trying to protect.”

    Is the quoted fine a maximum or standard fee?
    Where does this money go?
    Is it to the victims of child abuse or is it a new form of Government income?

  16. David Avatar
    David

    Agree with much of your ‘screed’ Dee Word.

  17. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    You have a good day too Artax…
    although you seem to off to a bad start…

    Accept Bushies apologies for assuming that you were mature Enuff for robust debate….

  18. David Avatar
    David

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtU-CaauZzN/

  19. John2 Avatar
    John2

    CA
    If u tell ur girlfriend she is fat just one time that is not abuse. Abuse is the manner (shaming as apposition to loving) and frequency u tell her that

  20. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @David, it is quite facile to say as everyone and their mother does that we are a “polarized and hypocritical society” but in a word that is balderdash (BS is two words 🤣😎) !

    Brother, we have endured TWO world wars and have had over 100 battles of ethnic cleansing: via wholescale massacres based on religion, race, gender and class!

    Yes ALL that continues in 2023 in one context or other as we see over in the ‘Caucuses’ or in Africa and surely on the political scene … so do excuse me if I find this repeated “polarized and hypocritical” world remark as a lame trope that signifies very little.

    Social Media MAGNIFIES everything a 100-fold but the world really is NO more polarized than it ever was!!!

    Similarly @ Artax I read the remark re Trump as doctrinaire absurdity people bring to debates.

    It was not about bringing extraneous US politics into this very local matter but rather an example of the absolute, inane level of ‘ non-insight’ that is often used in ALL debates.

    There is ABSOLUTELY no VALIDITY to the falsehood that this man is being charged “for doing the same thing every president before him has done”. But very clearly if you speak lies and half-truths repeatedly they will become accepted as truths.

    This Bill reinforces that perspectives in many regards as it pulls lots of things related to child protectives services repeated in many jurisdictions (which have caused many problems) and validates them as truisms.

    THAT is what must be our concerns (as the blogmaster alludes to): fleshing out the BS and getting to the root to fix OUR problems.

    Just saying.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    We know you, all of our challenges can be dismissed as nothing new under the sun’. i.e. NTSH.

  22. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David, Barbados already has a Child Protection Act that was enacted sometime in 1990. These new Bills have not been passed as yet and, therefore, are not law. I agree with the Bills, which are subject to change. I agree with Bills, because I believe something must be done to protect the increasing number of abused children in Barbados. That is my opinion, to which I am entitled. Unlike the BU ‘know it all, always right gang,’ I will not attempt to ‘force it down the throats’ of others, under the guise of ‘serious debate.’

  23. David Avatar
    David

    Out of different opinions good opportunities/ideas can emerge.

  24. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    LOLO @David, well brother facts are facts!

    There is quite a lot that’s “new under the sun”, but we have allowed ourselves to get into an absurdity of easy-speak behaviours.

    Accept the old saying: “Those who do not learn (or remember) history are doomed to repeat it.”

    Is Barbados MORE polarized today than it was in 1962- 65??? Based on the electorate acceptance with the 30-0 victory of one political party – twice – the fundamental answer should be a resounding NO, not so!

    Yet on the other hand, we actually have more political parties now than ever …

    However, based on an understanding of the historical context of the time then the answer must still be NO, not so.

    The US fought a freaking civil war and endured years (still) of grave civil strife due to the rage of involvement with wars, social justice etc … yet because of a megalomaniacal narcissist it’s automatic to speak now of how polarized it is!

    No David, I am not dismissive of our massive NEW and fresh challenges I am simply a realist!!!

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    You compare across ‘epochs’ is naive to use a generous term. Your opinion is respected however. Enjoy Sunday buffet.

  26. Grenville Avatar
    Grenville

    Artax:

    There is a difference between fining someone for doing something wrong, verses fining and imprisoning someone, and taking away their children, for doing what is right.

    There are two main problem with the Bill. One is that it criminalises normal right behaviour. Another is that such criminalisation’s appear to be cleverly hidden throughout the Bill.

  27. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    All joking aside, the blogmaster will update the blog next time around to give you something to gnaw re degree of polarization nowadays.

  28. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Grenville Phillips II, I do not agree with your opinions on this issue. Let us ‘agree to disagree’ and end the discussion here.

  29. Redguard Avatar
    Redguard

    This topic is also too close to home for many to allow a dispassionate discussion. The retrospective approach for many who have seen the inadequacies of the current law is indeed of value.
    However as with many issues we have been programmed to believe there is a law that can fix that. At the root of child abuse we often see the same issues: Single parent, lack of parental supervision, poverty, lack of a support network. The current law and the new one do nothing to address this, all it does it satisfies our need to see a bad person get punished. and then what on to the next bad person. The bill like the previous also relies heavily on lagging indicators.
    If we want to protect our children, we start in the womb. Home visits during pregnancy. Increasing maternity leave to six months, establishing an in home support service for all mothers from birth to six months, bringing back the child tax credit and increasing it. Where a child is born into a household where the risk factors exist, then interventions/check ins with the parents should be done with the frequency based on the level of risk.

  30. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    “It is not surprising you would not see how lgbtq would emerge in the conversation.”

    Yes! Sometimes I am unable to completely follow the discussion.

    Given how conservative Bajans are, I find it difficult to believe that issues of gender identification or LBTQ+ will be met with tolerance. At most, this will be used as a next wedge issue between parents and their children.

    One moment we have the brutalization of children who are confined in a state institution, then we have the position of parents being usurped as test are administered to their children without their knowledge and now we see our government ready to play Big Mother and protector to our children and again striving to drive a wedge between parents and children.

    No government will care for our children more than we do.

    Yes! It is difficult for me to follow an administration that exhibits dissociative identify disorder (DID) abusing our children at one moment and then seeking to protect them from their parents in the next.

    Poor me! I am unable to follow the zig zag of our government.

  31. David Avatar
    David

    @Redguard

    A multifaceted problem that requires multi pronged solutions.

  32. David Avatar
    David

    A time to march

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtXlraYJwQE/

  33. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    Hope the vaccine bullies are happy.

    Glad enuff i can get involved in NONE of it.

  34. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Interesting.

    https://www.nationnews.com/2023/06/12/five-years-dont-blame-dlp/

  35. Hants Avatar
    Hants

  36. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Way to go
    Ronnie O
    Grab her toe
    Don’t let go
    Let she bawl and call Lorenzo

  37. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reaerved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reaerved.

    Looks like a requiem for FAILURES.

    I noticed the parasite slithering around looking for 750K to skim, and taking on all of the physical attributes of a very old parasite….fraudulent as usual…using slavery tourism as a front. How many times have they used the old St. Joseph hospital as a weapon to tief money. Still at it….decades later…and it’s still an eyesore.

  38. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Barbados recorded a jump in COVID-19 cases from May 27 to June 9.

    According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health, there were 434 new cases and three deaths compared to 252 and zero deaths from May 13 to 26.

    https://www.nationnews.com/2023/06/12/three-covid-deaths-434-new-cases/

  39. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Oh hell! First time ever that I had to give Redguard a vote!

    Murdaaaah! De cat got pups!

  40. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Perhaps there isn’t enough information available publicly to raise public awarenes of the Child Care Board’s functions, especially as it relates to some of the issues raised, such as ‘children in households where outlined risk factors exist.’ Reintroducing and raising the tax allowance is an interesting suggestion. However, even if it is raised to $5,000 for example, would not provide any financial benefit for those persons whose incomes are below the tax threshold, and would only guarantee a refund of income taxes deducted from people whose salaries/wages are above it. With in CCB is the Child Abuse Unit, which not only addresses some of the issues raised, but also works closely with the police in prosecuting the perpetrators of child abuse.

  41. Grenville Avatar
    Grenville

    To my knowledge, everyone supports the parts of the Bill that protects children from severe abuse. Such abusers deserve the punishments of $100,000 and 10 years imprisonment that are in the Bill. So what is the problem?

    The problem is with the wide definition of abuse. If a mild spanking causes pain to the child, then according to the Bill, that is abuse that attracts a $100,000 fine and 10 years imprisonment.

    If that is not what is intended, then why are some (i) fighting so hard not to narrow the definition to severe harm, and (ii) insisting that the Bill be passed with the wide definition of abuse that includes the responsible actions of caring parents and teachers?

    If the intent is to make criminals out of responsible parents and teachers as the current wording of the Bill will certainly do, then the effort to fight to keep the definitions as wide as they currently are has finally been explained.

  42. Racist Judiciary Avatar
    Racist Judiciary

    Justice has to be seen to be believed
    Laws are put in place for a purpose
    Laws can be manipulated in Court system

    Laws against Holy Herb has been abused since day one by the Racist Judiciary of the Western hemisphere and it’s former colonies by freemasons embedded in positions of power. Just like the Slave Code of White Supremacy Racism which was originally conceived for Barbados prototype Colony.

  43. Have we become too polarized?Barbados Underground

    […] was posted with breast beating bravado by de pedantic word ‘né’ Dee Word to blog A Time to March. It was in reply to an observation the world today is as polarized as it has ever […]

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