It is said there is no greater tragedy than for a parent to lose a child. Yet how much sharper the sting must be when the child dies from a preventable cause. In the past week, three children have been killed-in a car accident, by electrocution and from pneumonia. They were aged, respectively, six years, three years, and 13 months. Every death was accidental, but they were all accidents where, if the adults had perhaps been more knowledgeable, these children might still be with them.

The six-year-old boy was, perhaps, just unlucky. He was in the back seat of his father’s car when the vehicle, reportedly bumped by another car, crashed into a guard rail and burst into flames. The correct thing here was that the boy was in the back seat, since persons in the front seat are more likely to die or be injured when an accident occurs. It is not known, however, if the child had on a seat-belt, although in the instant incident this might not have made any difference since the car caught afire.

In the case of the baby girl who died from pneumonia, the parents obviously did not realise that the child was ill. Although the child was breathing heavily, the mother dismissed this sign because she was herself a heavy breather. She did not know that noisy breathing is often a sign of some underlying condition in both adults and children, but in children particular care must be taken since youthful lungs are 100 per cent efficient which means, unless there is an anatomical condition like a deviated septum, inaudible breathing is the norm.

Then there is the three-year-old boy who was electrocuted while crawling on the roof of his parents’ presumably low house. This, it was reported, was an accustomed activity for the toddler. So, a laissez faire seems to be more of a factor than ignorance here. Why should any adult consider it safe for a child to be crawling on the roof of any house, let alone one which was located near electrical wires?

Even so, we must express our deepest sympathy to all the parents who have lost their children. But we also need to make the point that a lack of knowledge and carelessness with respect to protecting children is far too prevalent among persons who have taken on this most important of all responsibilities. Parental education certainly seems to be required by many adults in Trinidad and Tobago and, indeed, in the wider world.