How safe are our kids in schools?

Here’s what parents are suggesting:

• Feedback from parents should be taken in the right stride by school authorities.
• PTA should have more authority and a right to put their points across in all school matters, especially when it comes to the safety of their children.
• No child, especially small kids, should be allowed to go alone to the washroom.
• There should be zero tolerance for non-compliance with child safety guidelines.
• Official authorities should conduct regular checks in schools to ensure that they have implemented safety measures.
• Schools should take the help of professional counselors/psychologists to interview potential recruits.

“The first issue is that a child does not know that he or she has a right over his or her body. Young girls must be made to understand what it means when you say ‘My body is mine and nobody has the right to touch it’. We don’t need to talk about private parts when we talk about birds and bees. That can come later but first we need to make children understand that there are boundaries to what another person can touch and can’t touch. We also need to listen to what a child says and feels about certain persons, including teachers,” Purnima Gupta, a child rights activist and psychologist.

“I know my students are not very safe when they step out, and this worries me. In this area, anybody –neighbor, relative or friend – can be a potential rapist. Girls may not even tell their parents if they are assaulted for fear that they will be blamed. This is why we are organising self-defence classes for them,” Rajeshwari Kapri, principal of the Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School in Virar.

“I don’t want to be an alarmist, but we do have unsavoury elements in our society. Schools can hike their security, but they can’t be responsible for children’s safety once they leave the campus. So, the onus of ensuring that the children reach home safe should be on parents, NGOs and law enforcement agencies,” says Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal of Springdales School in kandivali.

Source: bombaytimes

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