No Charges: Buchanan Pushes For Children Held With Guns To Be Referred To Child Diversion Programme | RJR News
By Kimone Witter
Opposition Spokesperson on Youth and Human Rights, Isat Buchanan, is proposing a different approach to children who come into conflict with the law, amid the growing concern over youth crime.
Mr. Buchanan wants children found in possession of a firearm or ammunition to be referred to the Child Diversion Programme, rather than face charges in the courts.
He says the focus should be on rehabilitation rather than lengthy prison sentences.
The recommendation was first put forward by Mr. Buchanan two weeks ago, during a meeting of the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Child Diversion Act.
But committee chairman, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, told Mr. Buchanan that Parliament would not support his proposal.
Speaking Thursday on TVJ’s Smile Jamaica, Mr. Buchanan maintained that for children caught in the cycle of crime, punishment cannot be the only answer, because they are increasingly exposed to gangs and other negative influences.
“We are in a high crime society. We have to get, as a nation, to a place where we treat children as children. As I am speaking to you, Jamaica is the only society in the Caribbean – and I challenge anyone to correct me on that – that is treating children other than children. I am saying, please treat our Jamaican sons and daughters as if they breathe the same air in the UK, Barbados and Trinidad,” he pleaded.
Mr. Buchanan said diversion does not mean children will escape accountability. Instead, he suggested, it will give the authorities another option to address delinquent behaviour.
“I sometimes feel like I am attacked because I feel that Jamaica is taking a deliberate course post-Isat Buchanan, to never see a child who has been in conflict with the law, become a member of Parliament, become an attorney-at-law. What rehabilitation looks like is me. Currently the law, post my mistakes, is that it cannot happen. So child diversion is a programme where you get mentors like yourself, both of you, and in some cases, me, to put the children on the right path,” he reasoned.
Education to save children
In the meantime, with public schools set to reopen on September 7, the opposition spokesperson said many families are struggling to afford books and school supplies.
Mr. Buchanan urged greater support for students, including from Corporate Jamaica.
“Our constituents, we just don’t have enough to get the children ready for back-to-school. Book grants – books are expensive, and as members of Parliament, we’re giving $5,000, $7,000 for books that cost $15,000. And if education is going to be the best diversion for children, we need to intervene as a nation. I’m calling on the private sector, everybody. Kudos to everybody who is trying. It’s happening, but it’s just not enough. We would need to consider, if we’re saving our kids, education is the only route to success.”
Asked whether he believes schools are ready for reopening on September 7, Mr. Buchanan said, “No, we are not ready for back-to-school. There are schools, and I have to say this, that no PR can fix the fact that classrooms don’t have desk and chairs, [or] roofs. Some are going to be in tents.”