A rise in violent incidents among youth left unattended at Camana Bay has prompted police to call on parents not to send their children out unsupervised.
“We are seeing many young persons and mostly students from the schools congregating at Camana Bay on the weekends [and] they are having fights [and] damaging property,” said Chief Inspector Brad Ebanks, during a press conference on Monday, 19 Dec.
Ebanks said that on 11 Dec. officers received reports of a teen who was injured after a fight with a group of other youth thought to be around the same age. While he did not disclose the age of the victim, Ebanks said children as young as 10 years old are being left unattended at Camana Bay.
“The matter is under investigation by the uniformed [officers] and those persons will be dealt with accordingly,” said Ebanks.
This isn’t the first time that police have cautioned against the “escalating occurrences of anti-social behaviour”. In May, police warned of potential prosecution of youthful offenders, saying at the time they were working with Camana Bay management to address the issue.
Ebanks said one person is currently being questioned by police in relation to the current matter and could be charged in the coming weeks.
The most recent iteration of the Children Act (the 2012 Revision) is silent on the appropriate age at which a child may be left unsupervised whether at home or otherwise.
The only official mention of a potential age at which a child may be left alone can be found in a document entitled Babysitting Guidance for Parents and Primary Caregivers, which was issued in June 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands as part of a national COVID-19 level 2 suppression plan.
“The guidance in the Cayman Islands indicates that children under the age of 14 years old should not be left alone at home,” stated the document which credited the guidance to the Department of Children and Family Services.
The document continued, “Depending on a child’s cognitive maturity level, mental and physical disabilities, parental level of trust, and safety of the community/neighbourhood, a parent may consider leaving a child aged 14 or older at home alone for short periods of time. Mature young people and adults can care for your younger child(ren). These people may be family members, friends or neighbours who volunteer their services or a person who is caring for your child for financial reward.”
However, it should be noted that the document was drafted in connection with living conditions while Cayman was in lockdown due to COVID, and therefore may not be applicable to a post-pandemic era.
With no explicit age clearly defined by law, police say there is no legal penalty for a parent leaving a child under the age of 18 unsupervised in places such as Camana Bay. In Cayman, a person is considered an adult when they reach the age of 18, but they can be tried for serious offences as an adult once they reach 17.
“Children unattended tend to get into mischief and get themselves into problems,” said Ebanks. “So parents be more responsible and do not use places like this to mind your children on weekends.”
He added, “If your child is going there, stay with your child and leave with your child.”
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