#BTEditorial – Barrows and Dodds: mirror images of a nation

The international icon and former South African president Nelson Mandela, speaking at the May 1995 launch of his nation’s Children’s Fund, said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

A fair examination of Barbados’ notable and hefty investments in education, health care and other facilities  for children certainly offers ample evidence that this island values this vulnerable group, as it should.

Our children are indeed the leaders and decision-makers of the future and deserve a solid foundation to reach their full potential.

So, if there are cracks in any established system, particularly those that cater to our children’s needs, we must own up to these faults and fix them expeditiously to ensure we don’t fall behind.

The developments at the girls’ section of the Government Industrial School at Barrows, St Lucy are fault lines that cry out for resolution.

At the weekend, the Barbados Police Service issued two missing persons bulletins for two female wards who escaped Barrows on Saturday.

In a statement, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams said: “The two girls absconded under circumstances that are now under investigation, but even as resources are focused in that direction, the safety and well-being of these two remain at the top of our agenda.

“While all protocol and procedures at the facility are being reviewed as a result of the incident, in the interim very specific measures have been implemented to secure that facility and ensure that all remaining residents are safe and comfortable.

“I assure the families of the wards currently at the facility that they are safe and being well looked after, and that all steps will be taken to ensure that those who absconded are returned safely to the facility.”

Ironically, it came mere days after the minister called a press conference to reveal the findings of investigations into troubling incidents at the school, including last year’s report that a 14-year-old girl was placed naked in a cell, triggering strong public condemnation.

According to him, the Police Service was told to charge anyone once there was evidence to act on.

Abrahams said: “The police did their full investigation and found at the end of the day that there was no abuse of the student and there was nothing to warrant criminal charges. Of note is the fact that the young lady and her mother declined to give any comment or evidence in this matter.”

Investigations into recent attempts by several wards to escape also found there was no wrongdoing on the part of staff.

GIS Chair Reverend Dr Lucille Baird said: “Coming out of our probe, we found that there was a situation where there was bullying within the residents’ group. There was no abuse from any of the staff members or from anyone that was working there.”

While we welcome the report on the outcome of the authorities’ investigations, something still seems amiss.

In the wake of the two wards’ successful escape,  questions must be asked and answers delivered in the interest of transparency and fairness.

Complaints about conditions at the Government Industrial Schools are not new. They have been repeated time and again by children, concerned parents and others.

It was in fact the dreadful revelation about the naked teenager in the cell, amid a long list of complaints, that led to formation of a new board with a fresh mandate a year ago.

With Reverend Dr Baird as Chair and Carl Ward as Deputy Chairman, the new board members were Stephanie Chase, Reverend Lennox Boyce, Cheryl Moore, and Kwame Bradshaw. The statutory appointments are the Superintendent of Prisons or his nominee and a sitting magistrate.

Back in March 2021, Abrahams said the board would be responsible for developing policies and programmes that reflect the philosophy that “children have rights and are a source to be nurtured”.

We do not suggest that the new board has failed to deliver on its mandate but in the absence of timely, comprehensive information from authorities, the public is left to guess.

We don’t argue that there must be a high level of confidentiality at GIS to protect the children’s rights, but the public shouldn’t have to wait until there is an incident there to know what is happening.

Clearly, though, there is need for the protocols governing the care of children at the GIS to be upgraded and improved.

Last year, Abrahams revealed that he had released a number of young men at the Dodds unit in St Philip because they had paid their debt to society. Did the girls not equally benefit?

Now may be the right time to ensure the system strengthens its focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

In this regard, serious consideration should be given to developing a more welcoming facility that offers its wards a safe and secure environment where they are provided with adequate health, educational, emotional and psychological support to get their lives back on track.

Families should be given increased access to wards to better support the rehabilitation of their loved ones.

Moreover, the GIS board needs to not merely reveal but implement a concrete plan of action to treat the wards of the GIS – many of whom have known little but pain, misery and exploitation in their short lives – not as lawbreakers and junior candidates for adult prison but children in need of care, love, dedicated attention and meaningful second chances.

For it is the treatment of these troubled children that we reveal who we really are as a nation and who we must be.