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CHILDREN are the future and they are not satisfied with what is happening at present.They have added their voices to that of officials who have warned that youth are being mentally scarred by killings of other children, and this is not limited to killings in their communities.A Jamaica Observer survey among children between ages six and 12 years found that some are in tune with the news, living in fear, but aren't communicating such to their parents or family members.Nine-year-old Lea, who lives in a community in the St James Police Division, told the Sunday Observer that she was upset and afraid when she heard that young girls in her age group were gunshot victims."I don't understand why there are such cruel people in the world that would want to shot a little child that has no fuss with any big people. I do hear that most children have been getting kidnapped around my school and most of those things, and I think it's not right. If it was me it was happening to, I would be scared and probably feel afraid and I would probably feel that there is no hope," the girl said.Asked if she feels safe when she sees police officers in her community, the girl responded: "I would say not entirely, but yes."She continued: "I feel like the police are kind of effective... I don't think they are that effective [however] because sometimes they are not doing their duties. There was a stalker coming around the place before in our community and looking into people's yard, and the police did kind of do something at first. They put cameras around his house and watched him constantly and now he is banned from the community, so I feel safe."A deadly feud between the Darksyde and Genasyde gangs in the Kingston Central constituency since the 2020 General Election has played a disturbing role in the death of children lately.On December 6, 2021 six-year-old T'Morah McCallum was hit by a round which was discharged from a gun allegedly being prepared by a 55-year-old man who police believe to be a gunsmith. She died at hospital.Three weeks later 10-year-old Jezariah Tyrell was fatally shot while she and her relatives were asleep at home after a relative smelt gasoline and heard strange sounds on the roof.The relative went to investigate and was pounced upon by intruders who attempted to gain entry to the house whilst firing at the occupants. During the gunfire the 10-year-old was shot. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to be alive, and governments must make sure that children survive and develop in the best possible way. Also, the convention stipulates that governments must protect children from violence.Six-year-old Kyi lives with his mother and sister in the St Andrew North Police Division. The boy said he is hurt when he hears that children have been killed."I don't feel so good; I do not like that. I am annoyed at the gunmen. I want to be a soldier to kill them. I feel safe in my community when I see police because they are supposed to lock up the gunmen. My parents tell me not to go anywhere or talk to strangers. Even if they are nice, I am not going to go with them."In January, Holy Family Primary School Principal Christopher Wright revealed that because of crime against children in Kingston Central there have been signs of psychological damage in how the youngsters relate to each other and the drawings they produce.Romar, 11, who lives in a community within the Eastern Kingston Police Division, is also scared. Romar told the Sunday Observer that his parents talk about violence from time to time."I have heard them talk about crime, but it doesn't really make me feel any way. It really scares me because of what's happening to young children in Jamaica. If this happens to a nine-year-old boy... he was found with his throat slashed, it really scares me about what criminals will do to innocent people," he said.Romar was speaking about the gruesome murder of nine-year-old Gabriel King, an autistic boy who was found with his throat slashed, his body slumped on the back seat of his mother's car which had been reported stolen only minutes earlier.Addressing the monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) on Thursday, February 10, head of the St James Police Division, Senior Superintendent Vernon Ellis reassured the public that investigations into the boy's murder were progressing.Meanwhile, Romar said without his parents directly warning him, he knows that certain actions are not safe."My mother has never told me explicitly not to go anywhere with strangers but I know not to go with strangers because doing that is very dangerous. I do feel safe in my community because there has been no recent crime and violence in my area," he said.Lea, however, said her parents have repeatedly reminded her not to trust strangers."They told me some important keys that if there is someone who said like 'Come here little girl, yuh madda send me for yuh to pick yuh up,' I would ask them what's my mother's name, and how do they know my mother, and where they know her from, and where did she last work. And if they don't want to answer, I know that I shouldn't go with them. If they know how to answer and I recognise their face and know them, then I will go with them," she said.Kamaal, 12, lives with his parents in the St Andrew South Police Division. He has a similar experience."My mother always tell me that only the people who carry me to school will come back for me. And if it is not the person who carry me to school that is coming back for me, it is only somebody that I know who is going to come for me. If it is anybody different from who I know, I am not going with them - I would make my teacher call my mother," Kamaal told the Sunday Observer.The youngster said police presence makes him feel more protected."I feel safer when I see police in my community because I know they are looking for criminals and when dem deh here, no gunman will come fire shot or rob nobody. No gunman nah go come kill nobody, because police deh here," he said.Matthew, 7, also of St Andrew South, said: "My mother tell me don't go to anybody that I don't know; I must only go to daddy or somebody who dem always send fi pick mi up."Quton, 11, lives in the St Thomas Police Division. When two girls were kidnapped back to back, in the space of a week, in Bath, St Thomas, it hit very close to home for Quton.On Thursday, October 14, 2021 a nine-year-old was alone on her veranda, playing with her puppy, when she was abducted sometime after 6:00 pm. Her older sister then discovered that she had gone missing.Two days later, she was found alive. But residents were again plunged into dismay when another girl - a 13-year-old - was abducted from the same community the same day.The 13-year-old girl, who was found the next day, recalled that her kidnapper took her, tied her up and left her in bushes.Davian Bryan, who is still on the run, was named by police as a suspect in both cases. He is also before the court on rape and illegal possession of firearm charges in the neighbouring parish of Portland."Crime is when somebody does something bad. A lot of people out there doing bad things to children. The raper man... him did a run bout the place. Mi nuh know if the police de still ketch him. I was scared. I stay inside and don't come out pass curfew," Quton said.The boy said he has also been trying to protect his younger sister."I watch her from time to time when my mother leave her down here [with grandmother]. I watch her... she a walk up and down so I make sure she don't go outside. She can play inna the yard, but nuh guh outta road or play pon the road."Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison told the Sunday Observer that the voices of the children "tell it best", and that they portray the sentiments of many children who continue to feel unsafe in Jamaica."Children of all ages are impacted by crime and violence - whether directly because they see it in their communities, because they hear the gunshots or they see the turf wars unfolding around them. They are also indirectly impacted as even for those who don't live in communities where violence is rampant, the news is a constant reminder of just how fragile their safety is," she said.However, what is heartening, Gordon Harrison added, is that these children still express a sense of hope and confidence in institutions of authority."For example, here, they constantly reference the police as representing security and, very importantly as well, the advice that their parents give them is repeated. A key lesson, therefore, is that all the relevant agencies must continue to give of their best for and on behalf of children, and parents must continue to play that lead role in their children's lives."