The Ernakulam Childline has embarked on an ambitious programme to turn more than 1,000 schools in the district child-friendly in an effort to ensure the safety of children in school and outside.
The programme is being implemented with the support of the District Legal Services Authority, district administration and the Education Department. So far, two schools at Nayarambalam, one at Njarakkal, and five at Varappuzha have been covered under the programme with more schools lined up in the days to come.
“The idea is to create awareness among students about the threats around them and equip them to deal with it through preventive strategies. We largely employ mediums like street plays, flash mobs, puppet shows, thematic dances, ventriloquism and magic shows for conducting the awareness sessions,” said Jithin Xavier, district coordinator, Childline.
The awareness programmes followed by a talk lasts for around 45 minutes. Area-specific programme themes are designed based on the analysis of cases reported with Childline.
“For instance, we are planning to cover schools at Edavanakkad shortly where substance abuse and sexual abuse cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act are reported in large numbers. In addition to such area-specific programmes, we also focus on general issues faced by children like misbehaviour of bus employees, abuse by family members, potential abuse in the guise of relationships etc.,” Mr. Xavier said.
During the course of the programme, both students and teachers are encouraged to report such abuses and they will be made aware of the legal recourse available to them to deal with those issues.
Continuous follow-up
As of now, the programme is reduced to a single session as reaching out to every school on a continuous basis is not practical. Childline plans to overcome this problem and facilitate a continuous follow-up by appointing a nodal teacher and a couple of Childine volunteers from among the senior students in every school.
“We will place this proposal at the Childline Advisory Board meeting for the consideration of the District Collector, who is the convener of the board, and other stakeholders,” Mr. Xavier said.
Constant interaction
Initially, the system will be tried out in a select number of schools and if found effective will be expanded to more schools.
The system will help to have a constant interaction between the schools and the Childline ensuring timely intervention for addressing the issues faced by the children.