SEARCH THEM!

Parents are being advised that they should engage in the habit of searching their children’s bedrooms and other parts of the home, to look for evidence of drug involvement.

According to Chairman of the Drug Treatment Court (DTC), Magistrate Graveney Bannister, this is the right of the parent who has jurisdiction and control over the home, and should know about anything that is there, including drugs.

Magistrate Bannister is of the view that parents often allow their children too much privacy in the home, overlook the locking of bedroom doors, and are unaware of what is going on, “until the Police knock in the middle of the night and show a warrant, and the parent goes and when they look and see they are all surprised”.

“What I am referring to is searches of bags, and searches of drawers, mattresses. It can be done in the presence of the child, or it can be done discreetly. You own the house, the child don’t own the house, so what’s wrong with carrying out a search? And if you find something, why not confront the child and try to find help?” he said.

“If the child is coming home with bloodshot eyes, has a strong smell of cannabis, if the room has a certain smell, then that should create some concern. And if the door is closed and you hear the child coughing and you can see white smoke emanating from the room, that should alert you that something is going on inside that room.

“I think quite often, parents turn a blind eye to what is going on and trust children too much. It is okay and well to trust and to tell children that you trust them, but on the other hand, you should be able to not give up your rights as a parent, but you should be able to enforce those rights – give them some distance at times, but you should always be observant,” Bannister added.

He was speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Men’s Fellowship of the Cave Hill Wesleyan Holiness Church, held recently at the St Michael church on the topic “Not My Child – The Drug Debate”.

Meanwhile, General Manager of the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA), Betty Hunte, who also contributed to the discussion, said she fully agrees with Magistrate Bannister’s advice, though she believes some parents may be faced with the difficulty of getting into the rooms, especially since children are now allowed to lock bedroom doors, leaving adults to knock if they want to enter.

However, Hunte agreed with Magistrate Bannister that it is a parent’s right to ensure that nothing is in the home that should not be there, especially since they are the ones that have to give an account for their child’s actions.

“Many times, without a lot of explanation, you are held equally accountable for whatever has been found on the child at the school. So I have no problem with parents going into rooms checking behind whatever they have to check behind – carpets…

“Even sometimes when you see your child coming home with a shirt that is not theirs, a piece of clothing, something that they have not left home with in the morning and you have not provided, it is your right to ask ‘where did you get this?’

Hunte noted parents are also faced with the difficulty of child rights and human rights, where it begins, and where it ends, “and how much rights the child has as opposed to how much right the parents have.

“So now what we find, especially in the school setting, is teachers seem to be afraid of children, principals are afraid of children, and children are not afraid of anybody quite frankly. I do agree that the authorities in different settings have to be really clear about what they want as blanket rules for that type of setting.

“School organisations have to be really clear about what is permitted in schools, and how far you go to ensure the safety not only of the children, but your own safety as well as an adult in that setting,” Hunte said, suggesting that churches should practise safety measures as well.

However, Magistrate Bannister made it clear that while children may have rights, their rights stop where the rights of their parents and authorities begin.

Director of the Centre for Counselling Addiction Support Alternatives (CASA), Orlando Jones, pointed out that he has experienced situations where parents are afraid of their teenage children and may find it difficult to carry out those searches. He also mentioned that in today’s society, some children are left to parent themselves.

“They have authority which is not given to them, but somehow they seem to have taken that authority to do what they want to do within that home. That is something that we also need not to dismiss.

“Very often the parents don’t know how to approach those children so searching is a ‘no’ where they are concerned because they are afraid of those children…” Jones said.
(AH)