Some politicians in the country have expressed grave concerns about how children are maltreated, and are calling on authorities responsible to wake up from their slumber.
A lawyer and the deputy Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP,) Mr. Mike Ocquaye Junior, described as ?sadist? teachers and adults who give more than six lashes to children who have done something wrong.
He said the most number of lashes adults should give to a child is six, adding that ?there are many other forms of punishments that could be given to children such as a little weeding and cleaning.?
?Starving a child as a form of punishment is not advisable as the child could get stomach ulcer,? he cautioned.
He also lashed out at adults who knock the heads of children saying ?that attitude could cause brain damage to the child.?
?Children are very vulnerable therefore they need protection. I therefore task adults and the general public to show passion and concern for them,? Mr. Ocquaye urged.
For his part, the deputy Minister for Information who is also the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Nanton in the Northern Region, Hon. Murtala Mohammed, chastised adults who do not allow children to speak their minds.
?It is an erroneous impression in our society that children who speak their mind are disrespectful? children who are gagged from speaking their minds are affected psychologically; they become timid in the classroom, at home and everywhere,? he noted.
Mr. Murtala bemoaned the fact that some parents, especially fathers, do not even know their child?s teacher.
?It is advisable for parents, especially fathers, to visit their children in school and possibly give the teacher a present. That would serve as a trick to lure the attention of the teacher to the child,? he submitted.
The two were commenting on the recent expos? of killings of the so-called ?Spirit Children? in the northern part of Ghana.
STORY: PHILIP KUMI
