Media Ethics For Child Protection
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Whatever career you may choose for yourself – doctor, journalist, lawyer, politician, engineer, accountant, priest, teacher, let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it. Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights.
Make it a central part of your life. It will make you a better professional. It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can.
It will give you the rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellowman. Make a career of humanity.
Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.
— Dr Martin Luther King
Dr Martin Luther King has emphasised the need for knowledge and education to make the human person better informed and empowered. He submits that “as long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free.
Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the might of physical slavery”.
Accordingly, I would want to encourage Ghanaian children to devote their time and energy to study and focus on education.
That is why the organisers of the Children's Easter School must be commended for involving the children in the pursuit of knowledge and redemption of the mind.
Ghana was the first country to have assented and affirmed the International Convention on the Rights of Children.
We have an association of Journalists for Children's Right, and I was a pioneer member in the executive.
To give meaning to our readiness to protect the interest and welfare of children, the 1992 Constitution has elaborate provisions on the rights of the child.
Article 28 states among other things that “Parliament shall enact such laws as are necessary to ensure that children have the right to care and maintenance as is necessary for their development from their natural parents, provision from their parents' property, protection from exposure to physical or moral hazards, protection from work that affects their health, education and development, children should not be subjected to torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour, degrading treatment, or punishment, be deprived of medical treatment, education or any other social or economic benefit by reason only of religious or other beliefs”.
All these provisions are taken up under the Children's Act 1998 (Act 560) which provides in the interest of freedom of expression under Section 11 that “no person shall deprive a child capable of forming views the right to express an opinion, be listened to and participate in decisions which affect their well-being, the opinion of the child being given weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child”.
Flowing from this, Section 38 of Act 560 provides among others that a child shall have the right to legal representation at a Family Tribunal, that a child shall have the right to give an account and express an opinion at such a tribunal, that a child's right to privacy shall be respected throughout the proceedings of such a court, that the right of appeal should be explained to the child, the parent or guardian.
Moreover, no person shall publish any information that may lead to the identification of a child in a matter before a court, except with the permission of the court, and anyone who contravenes this commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding GH¢500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both.
Children are seen as the most valuable assets of any nation. Therefore if the future of our country is to be secured under strong democratic principles, then the media do not only have to provide for the needs of children, but, more important, protect and safeguard their interests. They must be trained to have open minds, tolerant and humble.
Children equally constitute a vulnerable group in society because they are weak, dependent and often do not understand or appreciate social developments.
That is how some unfeeling bestials manipulate, abuse and misuse children to cause mayhem, or havoc, a dreadful thing which makes monsters out of innocent children and undermine their healthy and productive development.
In all matters relating to children, the objective is to uphold the best interest of the child. This is emphasised under Section 2 of Act 560 which provides that “the best interest of the child shall be paramount in any matter concerning a child” and that “the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration by any court, person, institution or other body in any matter concerned with a child.”
Continued
Source: Graphic - Daily Graphic
Make it a central part of your life. It will make you a better professional. It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can.
It will give you the rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellowman. Make a career of humanity.
Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.
— Dr Martin Luther King
Dr Martin Luther King has emphasised the need for knowledge and education to make the human person better informed and empowered. He submits that “as long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free.
Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the might of physical slavery”.
Accordingly, I would want to encourage Ghanaian children to devote their time and energy to study and focus on education.
That is why the organisers of the Children's Easter School must be commended for involving the children in the pursuit of knowledge and redemption of the mind.
Ghana was the first country to have assented and affirmed the International Convention on the Rights of Children.
We have an association of Journalists for Children's Right, and I was a pioneer member in the executive.
To give meaning to our readiness to protect the interest and welfare of children, the 1992 Constitution has elaborate provisions on the rights of the child.
Article 28 states among other things that “Parliament shall enact such laws as are necessary to ensure that children have the right to care and maintenance as is necessary for their development from their natural parents, provision from their parents' property, protection from exposure to physical or moral hazards, protection from work that affects their health, education and development, children should not be subjected to torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour, degrading treatment, or punishment, be deprived of medical treatment, education or any other social or economic benefit by reason only of religious or other beliefs”.
All these provisions are taken up under the Children's Act 1998 (Act 560) which provides in the interest of freedom of expression under Section 11 that “no person shall deprive a child capable of forming views the right to express an opinion, be listened to and participate in decisions which affect their well-being, the opinion of the child being given weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child”.
Flowing from this, Section 38 of Act 560 provides among others that a child shall have the right to legal representation at a Family Tribunal, that a child shall have the right to give an account and express an opinion at such a tribunal, that a child's right to privacy shall be respected throughout the proceedings of such a court, that the right of appeal should be explained to the child, the parent or guardian.
Moreover, no person shall publish any information that may lead to the identification of a child in a matter before a court, except with the permission of the court, and anyone who contravenes this commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding GH¢500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both.
Children are seen as the most valuable assets of any nation. Therefore if the future of our country is to be secured under strong democratic principles, then the media do not only have to provide for the needs of children, but, more important, protect and safeguard their interests. They must be trained to have open minds, tolerant and humble.
Children equally constitute a vulnerable group in society because they are weak, dependent and often do not understand or appreciate social developments.
That is how some unfeeling bestials manipulate, abuse and misuse children to cause mayhem, or havoc, a dreadful thing which makes monsters out of innocent children and undermine their healthy and productive development.
In all matters relating to children, the objective is to uphold the best interest of the child. This is emphasised under Section 2 of Act 560 which provides that “the best interest of the child shall be paramount in any matter concerning a child” and that “the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration by any court, person, institution or other body in any matter concerned with a child.”
Continued
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