The Social Workers Association of Ghana (SWAG) on Sunday called on families to pay much attention to their children in the wake of the two teenagers murdering their friend at Kasoa in the Central Region.

The Association, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the family was the first stage of socialisation and must, therefore, take the responsibility to provide the needed orientation to the child.

Signed by Mr Divine A.K. Exorgbe, the President of SWAG, the statement said parents must monitor their children’s movements, direct them, and create an enabling environment to enable them to share their challenges with the family.
By so doing families would be able to bring up children to be assets to the society, it said.

The statement called on the media to factor the needs of children in their content in order not to expose them to harm while the police must pay critical attention to them in society due to their vulnerability.

Touching on the murder, it called on the public to be circumspect in their pronouncements as the case involved teenagers, who also had some right under the 1992 Constitution and the Juvenile Justice Act, Act 653 of 2003, Children’s Act, Act 560/98 and the Criminal Code, Act 29/60 Amended.

The SWAG expressed its heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim, saying: “Even as we call on the media, public and the police to respect the rights of these suspected minors, we stand for justice, and justice for the minor that was murdered in cold blood. May his soul rest in perfect peace”.

It called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Department of Social Welfare, the Office of the Head of Local Government Service, and the Ministry of the Interior to take a second look at the country’s correctional and remand homes, to ensure that at least every region had one with a professional social worker.

“This is important because it will help in the reformation and proper reintegration of such minors into society so that they will not pose a threat… but will rather come out renewed and useful,” it said.

The statement appealed to the Interior and Defence ministries to consider adding social workers to their list of professionals when recruiting into the Police, Military, Immigration and Prison Services.