Lynch

The Kingston and St. Andrew Action Forum (KSA-AF) has blasted the National Parent-Teacher Association (NPTAJ) of Jamaica for not supporting a 9:30 p.m. curfew for children to be off the streets between Sunday and Thursday, unless accompanied by an adult.

According to the KSA-AF, this move would reduce the growing level of violence against children. But Sylvester Anderson, president of the NPTAJ, says parents should decide when their children should be off the streets.

"It is obvious that he does not understand the proposed holistic approach to child care and protection," Lawman Lynch, president of KSA-AF, said in response to Mr. Anderson's pronouncements in The Gleaner yesterday.

"Now you see why we are in this predicament, now you see why we are facing this dilemma. That statement coming from such an office is regrettable," Mr. Lynch remarked.

He added: "Evidently, Mr. Anderson is stating that it shouldn't take a village to raise a child, to each his own, each man is an island and each man must stand alone ..."

Mr. Lawman said his suggestion for a curfew does not rest solely with the police.

"We are hoping that parents will come to the knowledge and appreciation of their role as protectors, guardians, caregivers and as such, will want their children in their beds safely tucked in at nights rather than on the unsafe streets and the negative repercussions of such," he said.