A short while ago, Minister for Education Dolores Cristina announced the programme Club 3-16 to help working mothers. Club 3-16 gives them the opportunity to leave their children in these clubs after school hours while they themselves are still at work. There is no doubt that this programme is aimed at encouraging women to enter the work force.
The Holy Name Society believes that this programme can have very positive results. Children will be supervised by trained adults, which is certainly better than leaving children alone at home where most times they have access to the television and to the computer and end up watching programmes certainly not suited for their age. We have heard often enough of children and young adolescents chatting online with adults who unfortunately have ulterior motives. We have heard stories where children in other countries have been lured to adults, who turned out to be paedophiles, and ended up being abused, raped and sometimes even murdered. Thank God the situation in Malta has not reached such a shocking stage but we have to admit that as has happened abroad so it can happen to children in Malta and Gozo. Children today are very computer literate. The computer has become an integral part of our life and is accessible in almost every home. Children who are not supervised by responsible adults can easily be led to watch or participate in programmes aimed for the adult viewer and/or user.
The Holy Name Society has two main worries regarding the 3-16 clubs. First of all the Society considers a child of three as far too young to be away from his/her parents especially the mother, for such a long period of time. We asked a number of psychologistsfor their opinion, who commented that this could have disastrous effects on such young children. Imagine a mother working full-time from 7am till about 5pm, picking up her child and going home physically exhausted, sometimes even mentally, and having to see to the household chores and the needs of her little one! There is no doubt that it would be difficult for the child to feel cared for, to feel comfortable and secure.
The Society’s second worry is that as children in certain age brackets require them to attend Catechism lessons, they will probably be denied this opportunity. This situation is certainly going to cause a conflict of interest between parents who send their children regularly to Catechism classes and those who cannot do so because their children would be in one of the clubs. Children will also face the problem of not attaining the percentage of attendance of lessons that is a requirement in order to make them eligible to receive Holy Communion and/or Confirmation. The Church’s obligation is well-founded and should not be ignored or rebuffed.
The Holy Name Society wishes, and sincerely hopes, that discussions between the Ministry of Education and the Church authorities start taking place as soon as possible so that a way is found whereby Catechism lessons are provided to children in the clubs so that they too will be well-prepared to receive the Sacraments. Discussions can take place directly with the Archbishop or with the National Catechetical Commission, which has experts in this field.
The Holy Name Society looks forward to seeing the Opposition contribute to the formulation of the basic principles of this system. It would be ideal to see everyone co-operate when the education of our children is concerned as this would greatly help to prepare them for life in every sphere – physically, psychologically, mentally and also morally.
Chev. Stanley Mangion
National President, The Holy Name Society
GUARDAMANGIA