Nearly one month after Belize hosted its annual nationwide Carnival Road March, the country’s Child Protection and Justice Steering Committee (CPJSC) has issued a formal policy statement calling for urgent reforms to child safety protocols at all public events involving minors. The October 1 statement comes in direct response to troubling scenes observed during this year’s festival, which took place across Belize City, Orange Walk and multiple other districts throughout September, and has sparked renewed public conversation about how to better protect children’s safety and dignity in shared public spaces.
In its remarks, the committee emphasized a core principle that many community members have overlooked in recent public event planning: behavior considered acceptable between consenting adults does not automatically meet appropriate standards when children are present. The CPJSC is urging all key stakeholders—from event coordinators and government public officials to parents and primary caregivers—to collaborate on establishing and consistently enforcing clear safeguarding rules for every gathering that includes child participants.
To turn this call for reform into actionable change, the committee has outlined a series of concrete recommendations designed to raise the bar for child protection. Top among these is the requirement for a publicly shared, strictly enforced code of conduct governing all interactions between adults and minors. A key provision of this code would be an explicit ban on sexually suggestive dancing between adult event participants and children, the practice that sparked the committee’s current review.
Additional proposals include mandatory pre-event reviews of all children’s costumes and performance choreography, to block minors from participating in routines centered on adult-only themes. The CPJSC also recommends that event organizers designate separate, dedicated family zones that offer only age-appropriate entertainment and are staffed with consistent, adequate adult supervision. For rapid response to emerging safety concerns, the body has called for the deployment of specially trained child protection personnel at all large public events, with formal backup from local law enforcement to address violations quickly.
In a final critical provision, the committee has issued a warning to the general public, media outlets and independent content creators: sharing images or videos that can be used to identify children involved in inappropriate incidents causes lasting harm. The statement notes that reposting, commenting on, or otherwise circulating such content extends children’s exposure to unwanted, potentially harmful public attention indefinitely. Reaffirming its core mission, the CPJSC closed by reminding all adults that upholding clear boundaries to protect children’s safety, dignity and overall well-being is a universal shared responsibility.