A few days ago a media outlet invited me to exchange views with children, parents and teachers to create awareness about good and bad touches. There I discussed with teachers and parents what strategies they can use to make children aware of this at home and in educational institutions. I conducted a children's session in front of the teachers and parents and showed them how to talk to the children about the issues.
While talking to teachers and parents, I realized that we adults are much more uncomfortable with the subject. But the children took part in the discussion quite naturally. Their participation was much more spontaneous. My experience that day is that with a little preparation and a little strategy we can make children aware of the issues. However, the issues should be presented fluently in a friendly environment.
Generation after generation of children, especially girls, are growing up with horrible experiences of evil touch. The evil touch of a dirty hand fades the child's colorful childhood. Evil touch is obviously sexual abuse. Children are being exposed every day to the horrors of sexual abuse, the statistics of which are unknown to us. Unfortunately, many of the children who are victims of this crime do not know that these unwanted behaviors are actually crimes. For this reason, the news of such crimes is not being published. But as a result, the mental development of the child is being hampered. Lack of adequate knowledge about good and bad touch is endangering children again and again. Although the bad touch touches the baby's body, its ugliness affects the baby's psyche several times more.
Cyber crime has now emerged as a new nightmare. The black claw of perverted evil pleasure is touching children even in the virtual world. The children there are facing horrible experiences every day. Children are being sexually harassed online before they understand the difference between good and bad. A large number of children have joined the virtual world in Corona situation. A recent report by the Law and Arbitration Center found that 30 percent of children in the Corona situation were victims of cybercrime. There is no substitute for properly informing children about the good and bad touches in overcoming the situation.
In 2016, Helal Uddin Ahmed, an associate professor in the Child Adolescent and Family Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, published a study. The study came up with a horrific picture of sexual harassment of children. His study found that 85 percent of sexual harassment occurred through family members, friends or relatives. Many people think that only women or girls are victims of bad touch and sexual harassment, which is an incomplete idea.
Her research shows that one in four girls is sexually harassed; In the case of boys there, this number is one in six. So children are not safe either. Many again put only men on the list of criminals. But in reality, a number of women are also involved in such crimes. There are many parents who do not take into account the risk of child abuse. Again, there are many who are concerned about the issue, but are reluctant to inform the children about it. But in order to keep children safe, these issues need to be discussed openly with the children. So get rid of all the discomfort and talk to the children about the issues.
The concern is that parents or guardians lack enough knowledge about how to talk to their children about these things. Teachers also feel uncomfortable talking to students about it. Recognize the intimate parts of the body. Explain why these parts are personal, what is meant by good and bad touch, what are the risks of bad touch, how to control the risk, how people from far and near can be harmful to the child, what to do in these experiences. But it is not difficult. These things can be easily explained to the child by adopting a few simple techniques. But for this we need our own awareness and necessary preparation.
In addition, a favorable family environment must be ensured. Another limitation is that we have a substantial shortage of awareness materials on the subject. It goes without saying that there are no books suitable for children in this regard. Again, most publishers are not interested in publishing books on these topics.
There is a lot of work to be done in this regard to save the childhood of children from the risk of bad touch. Awareness workshops can be conducted at school level to make children aware of good and bad touches. We need to make sure that children can talk and talk openly about things without fear. Care must be taken that children are not intimidated in any way. Not only do we have to work with the children, we also have to involve the parents and guardians in this activity to ensure a conducive environment at home.
In addition, there is a need to create age-appropriate books for children to create awareness about good and bad touch, materials to prepare parents and a lot of communication materials to create awareness. Adults need to be encouraged to talk about the issue with their children so that they do not feel uncomfortable. The picture of increasing sexual violence against children is telling, and it is not too late to wake up now. Children need to hear, understand, speak. We want to ensure a safe childhood for every child.