Young Jamaicans Submitting Entries to OCR’s Programmes

The Office of the Children's Registry (OCR) says it has received a number of entries from young people all over the island for its Jingle Competition and the Child Ambassadors Programme.

Both initiatives are aimed at getting children more involved in the fight against child abuse. The closing date for submissions is Friday (September 28).

"We have gotten a number of interested persons for both initiatives," Public Education Specialist, OCR, Trevesa Ashman, told JIS News.

"What we do realize though, is that we have more persons from the Kingston region and the western region sending in applications so what we would like to see is more persons from the other regions across the island sending in their applications as well," she said.

Mrs. Ashman informed that there has been an increase in applications since the Ministry of Education sent out a bulletin to schools last week.

"The bulletin was sent out to all the schools in Jamaica encouraging them to have their students participate. We have had some schools call since then to express their interest," she said.

Under the Child Ambassadors Programme children will be invited to serve for a minimum of one year as volunteer ambassadors for the OCR and help to promote the reporting of child abuse.

"We are looking for six child ambassadors island-wide. This would be one child ambassador per region, according to the Ministry of Education regions. We want persons who are outspoken, persons who are between the ages of 10 and 17 years old and who are able to help us speak out against child abuse," Mrs. Ashman explained.

The child ambassadors will be required to help the OCR in promoting the importance of reporting child abuse, to share information about child abuse as well as to make presentations on behalf of the OCR.

Giving details of the jingle competition, Mrs. Ashman said it must be 30 seconds, with a message about child abuse. It should also encourage persons to report child abuse by calling the OCR's toll free number 1-888-PROTECT (1-888-776-8328).

Additionally, she said, the words of the jingle, along with a completed entry form, must be submitted to the OCR. The song should be submitted in MP3 format on CD or sent by email to jingle@ocr.gov.jm.

Information on the programmes is available at www.ocr.gov.jm or on the OCR's Facebook page (Children's Registry) and Twitter account (@OCRJA). Persons may also call the OCR at 908-1690, 619-0723 or 631-4566.