[dropcap]I[/dropcap]was shocked to read about a 10-month-old girl who is battling for life after being kicked, hit and banged on the floor at a Kharghar-based playschool. There are many children who are assaulted in play school. Looking at these types of incidences, I strongly feel that joint family system is always better than anything though it also have drawbacks too. However, in broader way, the joint family is always a secured place for children to grow. In the name of caring our aged parents, we had workers at home who took care of our children or they are kept in babysitting centres or play school. I have seen many, modern families where couples neglect their aged parents who are ready to sacrifice their lives for taking care of offspring of their daughter or son.
In nuclear family, both husband and wife choose profession outside the family, and then children are neglected and looked after by servants. They feel lonely, become emotional, insecure and develop more anxiety. If the bread winner dies or becomes incapable to earn, there is no one to support the family. Even in time of emergencies like sickness, accident or during pregnancy, family members are neglected and there is no one to take care of them. As it is an autonomous unit, it is free from the social control of elders. So, the children develop all sorts of bad qualities and indulge in theft and lead their lifestyle in an indisciplined way. They become unsocial as they do not get opportunity to mix with other members of the family. A child living in a nuclear family often feel lonely which is considered as a major drawback of this structure. After completion of household task, the housewife becomes alone at home. If she is a working woman, then children are at the mercy of others. Following a commercialised lifestyle one can bring-in such tragedy to your kids.
Children become victims of violence in schools, baby-sitting centres and sometimes even at home by caretakers, residential care facilities, on the streets, in the workplace; such violence can affect the normal development of a child impairing their mental, physical and social being. In extreme cases, abuse of a child can result in death. Child abuse has many forms: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, and exploitation. Any of these are potentially or actually harmful to a child’s health.
Emotional abuse can be seen as a failure to provide a supportive environment and primary attachment figure for a child. It is also the act of causing harm to a child’s development, when they could have been within reasonable control of a person responsible for the child. Examples of these acts are restricting movement, threatening, scaring, discriminating, ridiculing, belittling, etc. In India, a rising concern is the pressure children feel to perform well in school and college examinations, which can be seen as a form of emotional stress and abuse.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) released a report on child abuse. The report discuss incidence of child abuse nationwide. It is estimated that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 have been subjected to forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence. There were 53,000 reported cases of child homicide. A Global School-Based Student Health Survey found that 20% and 65% of school going children reported having been verbally and physically bullied in the last 30 days.
Child abuse in India is often a hidden phenomenon especially when it happens in the home or by family members. Focus with regards to abuse has generally been in the more public domain such as child labour, prostitution, marriage etc. Intra-family abuse or abuse that takes place in institutions such as schools or government homes has received minimal attention. This may be due to the structure of family in India and the role children have in this structure. Children in India are often highly dependent on their parents and elders; they continue to have submissive and obedient roles towards their parents even after they have moved out of their parental home. This belief that parents and family are the sole caretaker of the child has proved to have negative effects on child protection laws and strategies. Numbers of cases of child abuse in the home are hard to attain because most of these crimes go unreported. Societal abuses that are a result of poverty such as malnutrition, lack of education, poor health, neglect etc are recognised in various forms by the Indian legal system. But India does not have a law that protects children against abuse in the home or in play schools.
There are some adults who have in-home childcare as well. The type of work for babysitting workers also varies from watching a sleeping child, changing diapers, playing games, preparing meals, to teaching the child to read or even driving (if the age is right), depending on the agreement between parents and babysitter. In some countries various organizations introduce courses for babysitters, many focusing on child safety and first aid appropriate for infants and children. These classes or courses can be provided at local hospitals and schools. These educational programs can equip the babysitter with information to keep both the children being cared for, and the sitter themselves, safe in various scenarios. We, the parents never check the credentials of caretakers in the school or at home or even at the babysitting centres. We often dump our children at their mercy. What kind of rat race is this, where our own children are at risk due to your own negligence? Anyway, at least CCTV cameras are exposing the deeds of these venomous people. However, when we learn about it, child loses so much beyond recovery and always in trauma. Today’s incidence teaches us a lesson about nannies and babysitters – implementing a hidden camera system is almost always a good idea.
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