Paedophiles look for chubby cheeks, dimpled chins
After the shameful and unfortunate incident of a six-year-old girl being raped in a Bangalore school, safety of children has again become a big concern for parents. Child abuse is rampant in our country. dna asks readers if the government and schools are making light of a sensitive matter
Leave no dark corners...
Our culture must become children focused and only then things can be expected to change. There are certain measures that every school should take irrespective of whether it is a public or a private school or it is in the village or city. A school should be designed in a way that leaves no dark corners. These corners act as invitations for the criminals. Even students can fool around in these corners and even that should be avoided. No student should be allowed to go alone with a teacher for any reason whatsoever. There is also a lack of general awareness in the public which is one of the most important reasons for the unperturbed continuation of crimes in general and especially rape. Just having strong laws in place will not solve anything. Denial of the society breeds crime. When something like this happens it is every individuals responsibility and not just a handful of people.
Dr Bhooshan Shukla, Child Psychiatrist
Make your children aware...The credibility of the person one is hiring must be taken into consideration. It should be followed by a background check with regards to the credentials submitted. There should be school teachers supervising any sort of extra-curricular activities, specially female teachers when male teachers are conducting an activity. This will ensure safety of children and also the fact that the institute shall get a progress report on the teachers, in the case they are visiting faculty. CCTV cameras on the school premise are important. If the children are not aware of the difference between the good touch and the bad touch then they will not be able to stand up for themselves at all. The harshness of the punishment meted out needs to act as a deterrent.
Amruta Prabhu, Principal, The Lexican International School
If not school, who’s responsible?The stand that the Bangalore school has taken in this particular rape case is condemnable. When a student is inside a school premise, it is the sole responsibility of the school that the children are secure. If any school is shrugging this responsibility, the government should immediately bring a ban on them from functioning. If not school then who else will take the responsibility of the child within the campus. The school is responsible to take preventive measures for the child’s safety till he/she is in the premise. If the government is lenient with schools in such cases, it can become a breeding ground for child abuse. The state has to take the responsibility and that has to be proper implementation of the law.
Sita Bhatia, Associate Professor, ILS Law College
Do a complete background check while employing staff...We should take care of the safety of our children even before the school does. We should regularly lookout for the safety measures the school is taking. We should be involved in the school life of our children with regular parent teacher interactions and meetings. We have to make sure that our children are not hiding anything from us and are telling us everything that happens in school. This could play a big role in preventing serious damage. The school should make sure that they do the required background check before hiring faculty and also keep a check on them via CCTV cameras. Parents should make sure that the children are courageous enough to speak when they feel that something wrong is happening with them. The schools also need to keep the parents in the loop and can hold regular meetings about the same.
Varsha Kulkarni, Parent
Schools are responsible for childs safety...In such child abuse or rape cases there are 2 laws that should be considered. The Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. It is sexual harassment at workplace in school cases because for students, school is their workplace. The law has made it mandatory for schools to immediately report such cases to the police. In the alleged Bangalore case, it is an aggravated form of penetrative sexual assault and punishment can also be life imprisonment. In the Bangalore case the alleged rapist might have sexually harassed many other students earlier, so the school must investigate. The school should appoint counsellors to find out if other students have also been sexually harassed earlier. Teachers should regularly go through an orientation programme, so they are aware about the laws for sexual harassment and child abuse.
Rama Sarode, Advocate and Human Rights Activist