Crop Over ‘a danger’ to children

UNICEF’S children’s champion Faith Marshall-Harris is concerned that actions taken around Crop Over are endangering the well-being of Barbados’ children.
The former juvenile court magistrate while speaking to the media took issue with the actions of some parents who were apparently more concerned with having a good time than taking proper care of their children.
“I am concerned about stories I’ve heard this year of children who, on Foreday Morning Jam, are there on the side of the road when their parents are jumping and they are just left there and told to wait until [their parents] come back. This is where a predator could take up that child and we would have a huge hue and cry about what’s happened to the child.
“I want to alert more people to the fact that Crop Over is becoming a danger to children in the sense they are not really being properly looked after during this time and I think people have got to remember these [children] are vulnerable beings and need every care and concern. I just think we need to think about it some more; I think we got to pay attention – we can’t just have a good time and forget about children,” she said. (CA)