National Child Month to be launched on April 6
March 31, 2011The Full Story
KINGSTON – National Child Month will be officially launched on Wednesday, April 6, under the theme: 'Our World, Their Future, Our Responsibility'.
Her Excellency Lady Allen will deliver the main address at the launching ceremony scheduled to take place at the Institute of Jamaica, East Street, downtown Kingston.
Chairperson of the National Child Month Committee (NCMC), Dr. Pauline Mullings, who made the announcement at a ‘Think Tank’ held on March 29 at the Jamaica Information Service's (JIS) head office in Kingston, said that the selected theme is intended to encourage parents and care givers to be more responsible in the care and nurturing of children.
“We have left the training and guidance of our children to the computer, mainly the Internet; the television, advertisements, print and electronic media, which in many influences have turned out to be negative for our children,” she said.
A major event for National Child Month is a thanksgiving service on Sunday, May 1 at the Trinity Moravian Church, 29 Montgomery Avenue, Kingston 10, starting at 8:00 a.m. Churches island-wide will be asked to celebrate the day by making their services child-focused and allowing children to participate in the services.
National Action Day will be observed on May 6, with the national activity to be undertaken at the Early Stimulation Project on Hanover Street, downtown Kingston.
Other activities to mark the month are poster and essay competitions, a youth/children’s forum, a children’s fun day and a mini expo.
In the meantime, the NCMC will observe International Children’s Day, which is a designation of the United Nations, on Friday, November 18.
Accompanying Dr. Mullings to the Think Tank were Treasurer of the NCMC, Vivienne DaCosta; Patron of the NCMC and Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Limited, Hon. Douglas Orane; and Chairman of the LIME Foundation, Errol Miller. LIME and Grace Kennedy are the main sponsors of the NCMC.
By E. HARTMAN RECKORD, JIS Information Officer