Tonight we begin with a troubling video that generated a firestorm of outrage on social media today. In the clip, a man is heard encouraging a child to curse and drink alcohol. The child, who seems to be very young, complies and gulps down what looks like hard liquor.
The videos have infuriated hundreds of Belizeans who have seen them, since it is a clear demonstration of child abuse meant to exploit the boy for nothing more than a few "likes" on social media.
But the video is only a window into a concerning culture perpetuated by adults who exploit and traumatize children for their entertainment.
And while many of those cases go unnoticed, this one isn't - the Ministry of Human Development and the police department are trying to save this particular child from a possibly toxic situation. Courtney Menzies has this story:
This disturbing video of a child made to drink what appears to be strong alcohol made its way to social media today, and went viral, with most Belizeans calling for the heads of the boy's parents.
In the video, the boy - maybe about 5 years old - is seen on a bike, guzzling out of a "badman" bottle - and being prodded on by an older male's voice - telling him to "drink it, drink it." In a second video, he is heard cursing, swearing gang allegiance and taking what is offered as an alcoholic shot.
It eventually landed on the desk of the ComPol, and he asked for the public's assistance in finding the child. He commented that, quote, "The fabric of our society is certainly in need of repair and it must start from within the homes." End quote.
And the Human Development Ministry is hoping that the child can still be saved. The Director of Human services told us via Zoom that they've spent the day scouring the internet and filtering through messages to locate him.
Shawn Vargas - Director of Human Services
"We're asking the population, we're asking people to help us to identify, we have assigned one social worker along with a unit from the police department to search and get this information the best they can, we actually have an officer going through comments and searching social media to get the level of support necessary. I am hoping and it looks good that we should get this information by the end of the work day. Definitely we would have to take the child to do a medical to see what's going on with the child, that's part of the progress, and so the investigation will have to follow its course and then if there is grounds for removal or if we see the need for us to find a safe placement for that child or other children in the household then definitely we would have to look at that, which the department looks at that as the last resort to remove a child, but if that is the case, then we would have to do something like that."
And while this video may have been taken and posted for "likes" and attention, Vargas explained that there is another side to social media's role that may do more than just exploit the child.
Shawn Vargas
"This is not a part of our Belizean culture, this is new to us, well, new to me and I've been in practice for over 21 years and I've never seen something like this before, someone who has been brave enough to post something like this on social media. And I think the entire country, the entire population who have seen these videos are in total shock and disbelief. If I can say, that one of the plus sides of social media, we're seeing things that are normally behind closed doors or family parties but now people are brazen enough to put it out there and this is one of the plus of social media that we're seeing and this is a benefit for us because we're making a strong effort to find this family and the young child, it goes totally again what the country stands for."
In a release from the Ministry of Health, they condemned the video, which they also deem as abuse. They say, quote, "This goes against our core value as a society to protect the moral and health well being of our children and highlights unacceptable practices that exist within our society that encourage substance misuse among children. The Ministry of Health & Wellness calls on the relevant authorities to take action against persons who have endangered this child or any other child." End quote.
