Lately I was accused by child experts and government officials in Abandoned infant and adoption (TMID, 13 April), that I did not have “the necessary legal background where Maltese legislation is concerned” when writing about Maltese children’s rights and best interests.
As founder of the pressure group For Maltese Children’s Rights, I must point out that although I am not a lawyer, I do have a background in international law as I studied it at Diploma level at the University of Malta.
I was under the impression that in a democratic country, concerned individuals are allowed to form a pressure group to lobby for their just cause.
In our case, a lot of parents are deeply concerned about a number of issues concerning our children’s welfare and health. Change can only be brought about through effective legislation. Therefore it is not fair to attack me on a personal level.
Since Malta ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in November 1990, it is bound to entrench its principles through laws in our parliament.
A case in point is the Adoption Act, which has not been amended since the early 1960s. In fact, Maltese couples can only adopt foreign children at a great expense.
Maltese couples cannot adopt any of the large number of Maltese children found in Church homes. On the other hand, EU legislation (Daphne II programme) is phasing out the idea of Church homes in favour of family homes run by a married couple with the help of adequate professionals.
Italy is one country which has adhered to this procedure. In the case of Malta, statistics show that the number of children in Church homes is on the increase.
On another point, parents are deeply concerned about our discriminatory educational system based on the Junior Lyceum exam. This exam can only be described as emotionally abusive and it is done to assess children who are intelligent from those who are not.
In Italy, students are assessed throughout their primary years at the age of 10 or 11 years, and depending on the global marks gained, the teacher will advise the parents on the best specialised secondary school the student ought to choose.
In Malta, we only have one type of secondary school – the academic type i.e. the area secondary or junior lyceum type, where each and every student is expected to pass the Matsec exams.
Last but not least, parents are deeply concerned about teenagers. In spite of the present legislation, underage drinking and drug-taking are not decreasing. Teenagers can easily get addicted to these drugs when they are allowed into entertainment places meant for adults.
Moreover, very few people know that, according to government statistics going back a couple of years, the highest percentage of teenage pregnancies (200) was attributed to males between the ages of 35 and 45.
We do not know if this figure has increased or decreased as we never hear about these statistics from government officials. In Italy, teenagers have parties in the afternoon without the presence of adults and alcohol.
These are only some of the issues which concern parents. We cannot hope to raise morally good children if we do not have in place effective legislation to protect our children from all forms of abuse and discrimination.
The CRC Committee on the Rights of the Child sought our advice on an important issue last November. We have the support of this committee and intend to keep highlighting these and other issues which concern our children’s welfare.
We urge Parliament to amend our laws in the best interest of the Maltese child.
Miriam Cassar
FDT – Malta
Zejtun