It is worrying to read the recent reports of children abused by their parents ("Dad from hell gets 3 years' jail for abusing 4 of his 5 children", Aug 19; "Mum jailed for punishing 4-year-old son until he died", July 30; and "Man jailed for sexual abuse of daughter", July 26).

Professionals from the mental health sector need to be invited to offer their thoughts on the possible factors contributing to these ghastly cases.

The state should involve psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors to study and determine what psychosocial factors drove the parents to commit these sad crimes.

What can be done to educate the public to work with child protection agencies to prevent such abuses?

What premarital and pre-parenting lectures can the Government offer couples to help them become good parents?

School counsellors need to monitor students who are facing academic and behavioural problems in school and analyse what is happening in the homes of these youngsters. This way, they can engage parents and child protection agencies to ensure that these young people are not subjected to any abuse. The same measures need to be extended to childcare centres.

Essentially, the state needs to be more proactive in ensuring the safety of our children.

Kuharajahsingam Karalasingam