The rapidity at which we have witnessed the loss of innocent children in T&T in recent times is gravely concerning, and hugely frustrating when one considers their profound impact on families, communities, schoolmates and teachers, among others.
Just days after the terror of a heartless massacre of four siblings in Guanapo, three of them under 18, came more trauma with the drowning of D'amari Jeffery, 5, at a waterpark and the death of Shazade Simon, 3, who succumbed to injuries she sustained from falling into a boiling pot of lentil peas in Williamsville six days ago.
Not long before the Guanapo killings, an autopsy revealed that Shakeel Williams, 5, had died due to blunt force trauma, causing police to open a homicide investigation. He was found unresponsive at his family's El Socorro home on September 2.
It would have been bad enough if the tragic deaths of our children were limited to a sad September, but a review of the previous months is just as depressing.
The deaths of Ariah Sheppard, 3, in Matelot (swallowing of her own vomit) and Tariq Toney, 12 (falling on a knife), both in July, and the August tragedy of Reniah Lewis, 2, who accidentally swallowed a chennette, also captured recent public attention.
The response cannot be anything short of a greater sense of awareness and vigilance among parents and guardians and a careful reflection on whether our collective responsibility as a nation toward the care and safety of children is sufficient.
The well-being of children is one indicator of a country's social safety net, and the numbers of incidents we've seen recently do not reflect well on us.
What's worse is that these figures are not unique to 2023 alone.
In just the first four months of 2022, T&T registered nine incidents where children were killed. By August 2022, when a 25-year-old mother was charged with strangling her daughter McKenzie Hope Rechia, 7, in Palo Seco, an act seemingly rooted in the family's poverty and the mother's depression, it led to a public debate on what needed to be done to protect our children.
The debate and suggestions for solutions lasted a few hot days until the issue was no longer at the forefront of public attention. Yet, here we are again.
The varied ways in which the recent deaths occurred must remind us there is never one single solution or sole entity responsible for the care of our children.
This requires a meaningful collective approach influenced by a culture that highlights the safety and well-being of children as a part of our national behaviour, with strong policies and programmes aimed at preventing tragic incidents as best as possible.
This must involve tapping into the vast expertise of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and firm measures to prosecute those who are neglectful, to sound the importance of how we value the well-being of children.
Above all, the solution must involve a return to the values we held high in T&T's formative years, which encapsulated the adage that 'it takes a village to raise a child'.
Families and neighbours are the closest to situations as they develop and must be the first line of defence and protection through enhanced vigilance and genuine care.
As a nation, we must do better.
