Child Safety

Children are often under-prioritized or even disregarded in urban planning and design. It’s estimated that up to 500 children die daily in road crashes around the world; thousands more incur injuries and psychological trauma from collisions with vehicles that can affect them for years. Whether on the streets or in public spaces, feeling unsafe or uncomfortable in outdoor spaces also discourages children from physical exercise at a time when 80% of children between ages 11-17 are not physically active, and 38 million children under age five are overweight or obese. The coronavirus pandemic has further highlighted the urgent need for safe outdoor areas for…

Child Sexual Abuse has profound consequences for the child. It is known to interfere with growth and development and has also been linked to numerous maladaptive health behaviour and poor social, mental and physical health outcomes throughout life. As adults, the abused face increased risk of domestic violence later in life, and could themselves be prone to violent behaviour and committing child sexual abuse.A longstanding social malady that needed intervention on a large-scale finally saw the light of day when the Indian government introduced a role play and activity-based module - titled School Health Programme – to be imparted in…

Since 1954, November 20th has been observed as World Children's Day. It marks the anniversary of the UN adopting the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. But are our children well-protected from violence and abuse? The recently-released NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) report, 2017, showed that over a quarter of the crimes against children were sexual offences. These were cases filed under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. In Bengaluru alone, 414 POCSO cases were filed in 2017. So just how do we keep our children safe? And what are the legal options in case a…

Ashwin, Samreen, Shimon and Prem were just a bunch of toddlers when their parents moved to Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd, a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) colony situated in Mumbai’s M-East ward. This ward has seen some of the lowest human development indices in the city and like most R&R settlements grappled with a range of social, economic and civic issues. Rampant drug abuse, sexual harrassment, high drop-out rates among children and other safety concerns were a regular feature and the residents, reeling under dire poverty, were too caught up in the struggle for day-to-day sustenance to actually address these issues…

With elections around the corner and all the political leaders sharing their vision for the state, we thought we at Makkala Jagriti would share our wish list for government schools in the state. This wishlist comes from the experience of working with government schools at grassroot levels. Focus on holistic development in each school It is well-known fact that Holistic development of children is very important for making them well-balanced human beings and preparing them for life. The very thoughtfully drafted National Curriculum framework also talks about Holistic Development: ‘The National Curriculum promotes the holistic development of the child. It…

Many of us have small gardens or even potted plants at home, to add a touch of greenery and, as we hope, to purify the city air.  Houseplants play several beneficial roles in our home environment. They provide visual interest to the home, purify the air, and may be edible or medicinal. What many of us may not know, however, is that some of these plants can be poisonous! Toxic plants can be a hazard to children and pets, as well as to elderly persons with dementia. Though  it would be better  to keep all plants out of the reach…

A new animation shared on Twitter by Bengaluru City police goes thus: “Hey” “Hey. What’s up?” “I need to get my police verification done. Do you know which police station should I go to and whom to contact there?” “I have no clue, but you can Dial 100 to find out.” “I thought we should dial 100 only for emergencies??” “Nope. The newly launched Namma 100 is a ‘point of contact’ for anything and everything related to Bengaluru police.” “I didn’t know, will call 100 and find out. Thank you” In the month of April, in an interview with Citizen…

In the third week of February, a horrifying incident of child sexual assault was reported from a playschool belonging to a popular franchise in Bengaluru. In this particular case, the parents of the child reported the incident with the police and the perpetrator was arrested, the playschool was shut down. The main accused in this case was the school supervisor. Meanwhile, the parents of the victim alleged that the school management had also tried to cover up the matter when they were informed about the incident of sexual assault. A case under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)…

Child sexual abuse needs to be handled sensibly. Pic courtesy: Child line India On February 20th, the aggrieved parents of a playschool-going child shared an alarming piece of information in social network sites. They briefly narrated the sad story of their three-and-half-year-old girl child having been the victim of sexual assault in her playschool in Bellandur. The parents alleged that a supervisor at the school had sexually assaulted the child. A case has been filed and the alleged culprit has been arrested within a day. Days later it has been learnt that several other children in the same play school…

Lamps, snacks and crackers in the company of family. A perfect way of celebrating Deepavali! A festival where moderation invariably flies out of the window, especially in the presence of all that food, and the fun. During this festival that is celebrated across the length and breadth of our country, people do tend to get reckless, and a little careless too. They seem to forget that, the very same fire that lights lamps and crackers, can also cause burns and fire accidents. Let me rephrase that - it is the things people do / don’t do that causes the same…