The group, Watch Out My Children, will be staging a march and rally on Saturday.
Starting at 10 a.m., the march will proceed from Kensington car park, through the City, to National Heroes’ Square where the rally will take place.
Educator and activist Marcia Weekes made the announcement during a media briefing at Praise Academy on Wednesday.
The objective of the march is to highlight the concerns raised by parents and various stakeholders about the Child Protection Bill, the National Nutrition Policy and also the “recognition and upholding of parental and child rights in Barbados and the Caribbean”.
The group says it is “gravely concerned” about the “content and structure of the Child Protection Bill, which appears to reduce the rights of Barbadian parents and we consider this an urgent matter that need the attention of the media and the citizenry of Barbados”.
The rally also has several objectives:
- Promote the recognition and inclusion of parental rights in the Constitution and in legislation.
- Continue to advocate against the violation of parental rights by the Ministry of Education through for example the administration of tests, changes in curricula etc. without parental consent.
- Examine the legal aspects and ramifications of the Child Protection Bill.
- Highlight concerns arising from the Nutrition Policy e.g. introduction of Adolescent Friendly Clinics according to WHO standards.
- Advocate for the right of parents to withdraw their children from participation in activities that contradict their faith and/or values.
- Raise awareness of factual and possible traumatic and psychological impact of adopting a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) approach to sex education.
- Continue to educate on the dangers of CSE & sexualising children.
Watch Out My Children comprises members of families “with a mission to safeguard and protect the development and future of the nation’s children against threat to values and faith, while preserving the traditional family”. (SAT)
