Bullied kids get a helping 'page'

For bullied children and their parents who don't know where to turn to for succour, help is at hand. Zarir Karbhari (43), parent of a standard VII child, has created a Facebook (FB) page called 'Back against the wall' aimed at helping such kids.

Even as this unique initiative was launched in mid-January this year, the online group's membership has swelled to about 70-80 people, including parents, counselors and school faculty.

Karbhari's personal experience, within his family, relatives and friends, stirred him up to this novel idea. He realised that children with special needs i.e.
dyslexic or epileptic children were bullied more than others. He said, “The problem with bullying is that people do not want to talk about it. Earlier, rape was also not talked about. Thanks to the media, it is being discussed now. The aim of 'Back against the wall' is to create awareness about bullying that is rampant in both English and Marathi medium schools.”

About his FB page, he said. “We have three aims: the first is to create awareness about the issue of bullying, second to conduct workshops in schools for the faculty and children and third is to become a resource centre for bullied children and their parents. We plan to conduct workshops in five to six schools in May this year.”

@vjoshi25