Are Child Services Meeting the Needs of Today’s Children?

Where I come from, there are lot of things that don’t work and so in general we say the system doesn’t work. Aside the fact that our roads aren’t good, we also don’t have portable drinking water, our educational system is a mess, we don’t even have constant power supply anymore and even basic needs are a problem for the average Ghanaian. With all these things causing hardships to the people of the country, there are so many things we don’t even have time to pay attention to.

The average Ghanaian is always finding ways and means to survive on the daily basis. They don’t even know their rights and how the country is supposed to protect them, and their families. Even the police that is supposed to protect us on a normal day is trying to take money from you at any little opportunity. So, it’s safe to say we don’t have anyone protecting us aside God and the men in our homes.

Women and children are the most vulnerable in world and everyone knows that. We fall victim to so many things easily, especially children. And in most cases, these children are left to grow with the trauma of such experiences. Recently, I heard of a story of a baby of two years who was raped by her father. I didn’t hear any news of the father being arrested but the issue of the child being raped was all over the place. Another one which has been trending a lot over the past week is this primary school girl who got shot in the eye by a classmate who decided to bring his fathers gun to school. She is currently receiving treatment while the young boy has been kept behind bars.

The first question I asked my friend who showed me this news was that how did a boy in primary school get a gun. Apparently, his dad was a police man and he thought the gun was a toy one so he decided to bring it to school to play with it with his friends. As parents, this is where we come in, in the lives of our children. If this boys parents payed attention to him and what he carries to school and back on the daily basis he wouldn’t have carried a real gun to school which eventually led to this accident.

In Ghana, I know of two institutions in charge of protecting children, the ministry of Gender, children and social protection and the Domestic violence and victim support unit (DOVVSU). In my whole life, I haven’t heard about the ministry of gender, children and social protection do anything to protect our children. Maybe I don’t follow the news but if they were also vibrant, I guess I wouldn’t need the news to let me know what is in my face. As for DOVVSU, I know they’re working day and night to make sure our kids are safe. Some years back, a friend of mine who was going through a tough situation was able to find her way out with the help of DOVSSU and I’ve heard more and more stories of children being taken in by the organization just for their protection. I havent heard of any child service ruining relationships between these kids and their families ansd that is probably because they know what they are about.

However, there are still so many kids out there being abused on the daily basis. Ghana isn’t like other countries where kids can just call to report someone for abuse , but I know we are capable of protecting our little ones with the systems put in place. Each day, kids are being beaten like animals both in schools and at home. In this day and age, everyone frowns on inflicting pain on kids. Correct them with your mouth rather than trying to beat them to death. Beyond this, some kids are also being abused sexually, verbally and in many ways of which they can’t voice out because they’re kids for Gods sake. Once a kid is threatened, there’s little he or she can do. Most of our kids are suffering silently right in our faces.

We shouldn’t just sit and wait for these organizations to save our kids. Our kids protection begins with us as parents, older siblings and family members. Let’s make sure to pay close attention to kids around us, there’s no way you’ll miss the signs unless you’re not paying attention. Let’s protect our young ones for they are the future of tomorrow.

all images belong to me.