The bells have tolled and the curtain has fallen on 2024. It is now time to focus on things that need to be done. Hopefully, everyone has had a wonderful New Year’s Day holiday.

Over the holidays, it was sad watching a child who seemed mentally disabled and in need of a bath attempting to stop cars in the middle of town. He had a toy truck clutched in one arm and stepped into the middle of the road to stop passing cars.

None of the cars stopped. One did and took the child to the police station hoping that the police would do the right thing by either locating his family or handing him over to appropriate government authority. Minutes later the child who would be around nine or 10 years old was back on Beach Street.

The people in the same vehicle who helped the child the first time stopped and called the police again. This time, they also called the Samoa Victim Support Group to ensure that the child was taken there until his family was located.

It is disturbing that a week after the nation celebrated the birth of baby Jesus, no one would stop to aid a child who was clearly distressed, lost and not mentally incoherent. The child did not speak as well and was covered in skin infections from the neck down to his toes.

This showed that the people who were given the task to look after this child had failed in their duties. This is a similar treatment many disabled children in our society receive.  This is also a failure of the government to have policies that would prevent such treatment of children.

This is why the government’s Child Protection Act which has been sent back to the drafters is so important. Every child needs to be protected, and every child needs the same opportunities in life whether they are disabled or not.

We hope that in the case of the child found on New Year’s Day, the police will look for the people who were responsible for looking after him and look at charging them with negligence. This type of neglect is unbecoming of our society.

We are so eager to celebrate White Sunday and mark Palm Sunday yet unable to meet the needs of a child who requires a bit more attention. It would not be surprising if the child’s family had not filed a missing person’s report as well.

This year, there is a need for more action and less words when it comes to children. There should be action towards getting every child into school. There should be action to get equal opportunities for children with disabilities. Making education free would be a good start.

The government also needs to place into action all requirements to have the Child Protection Act in place so we can protect our children better. The churches need to unite to better protect children. Archbishop Father Mosese Tui has said that the family unit is the answer to everything.

Let us start there and hopefully next year, there will be no child walking in the middle of town and attempting to stop cars.