Taking serious note of the increasing incidents of crime against children, robbing them of their childhood, Childline is set to launch a year-long campaign, My Childhood, with the objective of turning Ernakulam into a child-friendly society.
It will be implemented in association with the District Legal Services Authority, police, and a social organisation, Change. The campaign will be launched at Santa Maria English Medium School at Mundamveli on Friday.
Students will also take out a cycle rally propagating the message of the campaign from the school campus to Vasco Da Gama Square at Fort Kochi.
“The campaign has been designed based on a concept where children are reclaiming their childhood. For that to happen, the larger society needs to be sensitive to children’s right to a safe and memorable childhood enabling them to express themselves freely without fear,” said Jithin Xavier, district coordinator, Childline.
He added that selecting a CBSE school for the launch of the programme, instead of government schools, was deliberate as such initiatives get institutionalised in CBSE schools.
Programmes to be organised as part of the year-long campaign will be designed specific to regions based on data available with Childline.
For instance, dropping out and substance abuse are the larger menaces facing children in coastal areas, and the programmes will be designed to specifically address those issues.
Earlier this month, Childline had rolled out a programme aimed at making schools child-friendly through a variety of mediums like street plays, flash mobs, puppet shows, thematic dances, ventriloquism, and magic shows.
“The new campaign, My Childhood, is in a way an extension of that programme, thus taking the initiative beyond schools with the aim of making the entire society child-friendly,” said Mr. Xavier.
12 institutions
So far, 12 schools, mainly in coastal areas like Edavanakkad, Nayaramabalam, and Njarakkal, have been covered under the child-friendly school programme.
The second phase of the programme will be kick-started shortly whereby teachers and parents will be imparted training to detect problems facing children so that they do not go unreported.
In the next phase, child ambassadors and nodal teachers will be selected for carrying out various activities towards achieving the goal of making schools child-friendly.
“Both the campaigns are being implemented on a pilot basis, and they will be further expanded after analysing their results,” Mr. Xavier said.