Dear Editor – As a Samoan citizen and law student of USP, it is with deep sincere to address the current state of our children’s lives that are greatly endangered by our own hands.
I encourage all authorities from village to government levels to consider the current state of our children.
Majority of the parents including siblings and relatives have practiced throwing objects towards their children as a form of discipline without considering the consequences of their senseless actions.
Recent reports in Samoa states that five children have died from severe head injuries due to objects being thrown by their parents, including a three-year-old child who is currently on life support to New Zealand after being seriously injured from a metal object thrown at him by his father.
To propose a solution, village council and local authorities must educate families to understand the repercussion of throwing objects towards children and to ban such practice by proposing by-laws. The government service and public sectors should promote the care of children from senseless violence and encourage parental cooperation through public posters and awareness ads.
Violence as a form of child discipline has always been normal in the Pacific, it is for the sole purpose of establishing acceptable behaviour in society from the early years before independence. Sadly, children who suffered from extreme violence have either died or become traumatized for the rest of their life.
Therefore, I urge the people of the Pacific to understand the significance of this matter especially parents when disciplining their children. We must cherish our children as they are the future.
Sincerely,
Junior Ramsi Enoka
USP
