UNICEF’s Children’s Champion and former juvenile court magistrate is to examine the new anonymous student behaviour reporting software called the SafeZone, Report It App.
“I was not aware of its existence,” Faith Marshall-Harris – Chairman of the National Committee Monitoring the Rights of the Child – told Barbados TODAY this afternoon. “I will look into it,” added Marshall-Harris.
Head of Supreme Counselling and Development Services Shawn Clarke said the app may be downloaded and used by anyone to report any kind of negative behaviour displayed by young people, on or off school premises.
But at least one local political party is not happy with it.
The United Progressive Progressive Party (UPP) believes this latest approach to addressing delinquent behaviour among young people is not in their best interest.
“Taking actions in the best interests of the child is an oft repeated prescription. And yet such a simple statement causes much disagreement as to what might be in the best interest of the Barbadian child. Is it in the best interest of the child to have their every instance of bad behaviour recorded, reviewed and forwarded to a disciplinarian?
“Our understanding from newspaper reports is that the purpose of the app is to facilitate the general public in monitoring and reporting on the behaviour of minor children. Just like beauty, bad behaviour is in the eye of the beholder. The exuberance of youth is often considered to be bad behaviour by many when they are no longer young,” said Deputy Chairperson of the UPP Lynette Eastmond.
She pointed out that quite often the gathering of boys in groups comprising more than two is the catalyst for the presumption of bad behaviour.
“In the real world of Barbados with which some are unfamiliar, individuals will threaten ‘to get people locked up’ and succeed. Inevitably with this new-found power will also come threats of expulsion. And they may succeed,” Eastmond added.
But the UPP official said “These dishonest individuals rely on the fact that even though we know that humans lie we still believe that they would not do so for frivolous reasons. This is of course untrue.”
The party deputy noted that this new surveillance tool comes on the heels of the passage of the Data Protection Act 2019 which seeks to protect the personal data of individuals. The personal data of individuals is in effect information from which the individual can be identified. With any such piece of legislation, one can anticipate that there will be exceptions.
“These include for example the administration of justice and the carrying out of other necessary public functions. One of the measures implemented to safeguard privacy is that those who collect, control and process data must obtain the consent of the individual before gathering and processing their data. Where children are concerned, Section 8 of the Act provides that ‘the processing of a child’s personal data shall be lawful only where and to the extent that consent is given or authorised by the parent or guardian of the child.’”
Eastmond suggested that in the circumstance where every Barbadian is given the power to collect information on minors, which is then sent to be processed by groups of individuals, the question arises as to how the consent of these children or their parents is to be obtained.
“Indeed one may also wish to ask the question, that now there is a pending legislative framework for data protection, does the person facilitating the collection of data on minors has the legislative power to do so.”
The UPP is asking Barbadians to give considerable thought to whether this App is the best way to address issues that minor children face.
“Is surveillance the solution? Or is education reform the real solution?
The UPP said true progressive reform is one that helps Barbadian children to navigate that process from childhood to adulthood successfully.
(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)
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