Sheena Gayle, Staff Reporter

THE FREQUENT deadly attacks by criminals in St James has left scores of children depressed and a whole generation in danger of losing its childhood.

Dr Beverley Scott, child and family therapist who operates in Montego Bay, says she is seeing more depressed children than parents in recent months.

She said that there had been a 30 per cent increase in the number of children between eight and 18 years old seeking treatment for depression this year over last year.

"A lot of children are depressed by what is happening in society and many of them will behave disruptive at home or school because they do not know how to manage their emotions properly," the child and family therapist told The Sunday Gleaner.

44 murders so far

St James has reported some 44 murders since the start of this year, with many happening at times when children are up and about.

A common occurrence at crime scenes in the parish is young children milling around, emotionlessly viewing a bullet-riddled body. This scene, it appears, has become so commonplace that children have been seen eating or playing close to a dead body as if the killing of a person was just an everyday event.

According to Dr Scott, this type of response by children is a serious cause for concern.

"When a child can look at a dead body without any sign of remorse or emotion, they no longer see the situation as a crisis because it is the norm. These are the children we have to watch, especially the ones who have lost a family member," she said.

A 17 year-old who has lost his father, stepfather, cousin and uncle to gun violence in the volatile community of Flankers, Montego Bay, expressed the view of many of his peers.

"When you grow up seeing death around you, eventually you become numb to all of it. I was 17 when my relatives were killed and while I felt a bit of remorse when my father was killed, after a while I became numb to what was going on around me," the young man said.

An educator who oversees a school located in one of the volatile inner-city communities in Montego Bay remarked that the school was adversely affected when there was an upsurge of violence.

"You have a drop in attendance and migration of parents and children when there is a rise of crime and violence in the area. For instance, the other day, three students were withdrawn from our school in a week because their parents had to flee the community due to gun violence. That is the reality of what we have to deal with at our school," the despondent educator told The Sunday Gleaner.

Home before six

In some instances, parentteacher association meetings and other school activities have to be curtailed because parents want to hurry home before 6 p.m.

The school also finds it difficult to get persons to come in to participate in educational activities that will benefit the students because of a fear of violence.