Negligence blamed for increased violence against children

GEITA: POOR understanding by the society and negligence of the Law of the Child Act of 2009 by parents, guardians and institutions have been cited as main reasons for increased incidents of violence against children in Geita Region.

Chama Cha Mapinduzi Women’s Wing Chairperson for Geita Region, Ms Paulina Majogoro made the remarks recently during the 11th Form Four graduation ceremony at Geita Adventist Secondary School in Geita Town.

She said that there is need for raising awareness about the law for the society to be in a better position to protect children and their rights.

Ms Majogoro further said that there are parents who believe that when a child graduates from primary or secondary education, he or she is ready to be independent even though he or she is under 18 years, the reason that cause many of the children to experience violence.

“The first responsibility of the graduates is to live what they were raised and what they were taught, the second responsibility is that parents still have the opportunity to provide education to develop values ​​for their children.

“They should not leave the children arbitrarily because they have graduated from secondary education, but the third responsibility is still for the entire community to ensure that these children are in a safe environment,” she said.

” Let us do our best as a community to protect our children, and this responsibility is not for an individual but it is for us all parents, teachers, government and community in general.”

Director of Geita Adventist Schools, Mr George Hezron said a total of 234 students have graduated from the school.

He further added that Geita Adventist schools have invested in teaching children their rights so that they can be in a better position to protect themselves.

“We are very focused on raising them spiritually and making them know the religious faith, each one with his or her own faith, this helps them understand any sin results in death.

One of the parents, Mr Juma Jumanne, emphasised that the root cause of the problem is laxity in parenting and lack of awareness of the child law.