They appear to be gentle and innocuous. Yet, their demeanor could be misleading and their behaviour could cause great damage to the psyche of children. When a child is abused sexually — the most common being ‘secret touching’, they are scarred for life.
And because they do not have anyone in the family circle they can talk to about what happened, these children are unable to lose the fear and guilt that they feel and grow distant and apart from their loved ones.
Some of us are hesitant to let our children know too much before their age — to talk openly about sexuality. This is why teachers have to take the onus of instilling the right values and make them aware of all the possible risks.
For the management and teachers of Anugraha Mandhir KG and Primary School in Sulur, it was important to create this awareness — if faced with a perverse action they should know exactly how to react. The principal of the school, A. Shahira Sulthana, who is instituting this awareness campaign, shared her thoughts on the program.
“To be very frank, we lay great stress on our traditions. But we did not speak to the parents of our students about the sexual abuse awareness campaign, we closed ourselves. In some cases where the parents do not talk openly to their children, the child has to be assured that he/she has a safe parent to go to in such situations. We wanted to help raise that awareness among the children, to ensure that they build a strong bond with a parent at home.”
She continues, “I have wonderful teachers who understand the magnitude of what we are teaching and they ensure that they deliver it to the students in the most careful manner. As the children grow up, they will meet different kinds of people — good and bad, and will learn to read the situation and understand how they can control their surroundings. We now openly invite parents and students to approach us if they want to talk to us on this matter.
We teach them the three things that they need to know when faced with such a situation. Through an activity program, we first find out which adult in the family the child is closest to — the ‘safe adult’; again, through an activity-based program, we teach them to follow three simple steps to avoid such situations.
We make them understand — ‘If you get a bad touch, leave that person, go to your safe adult, and tell them what happened’. Teaching them at a very young age will ensure that they have a safe and happy upbringing.” The students — even those in the lower grades, seem to have grasped the significance of what they are being taught.
Harini S, a student, explained, “If someone we don’t know touches us in the wrong places we should tell them ‘DON’T’ touch me. And after that, we should go away from that person and tell our parents about what exactly happened.” Parvathi Sunil, a standard II student, was very clear about what she had learnt, “Our teacher told us that it is important that we understand this, so I always make sure I never stray from my parents when I go out.”
