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It’s not surprising to read about atrocities against children in newspapers anymore!
Be it murder, sexual offences, child abuse (both verbal and physical), deaths due food poisoning to random shootings, child offences are on a high rise. What is surprising is that most of these offences are happening in schools! Sad, but true, schools are constantly in news for being the backdrop of some or other criminal activity!
Considered to be a safe haven for children, yet unfortunately the schools are constantly in news for safety breach issues. The safety loopholes in schools are now raising eyebrows not just in every household, but even in the board room of educational policy makers! Good in a way, because this is where the next generation is being built, so action should be taken. After all, aren’t schools supposed to be the safety havens for children after homes?
But unfortunately, as soon as the news dies down, people move on.
If the security and safety lapses continue to happen like the way they have been, then how will the schools instill other values, which they proclaim? All these values of building cognitive ability, curiosity, and holistic learning blah blah will all go down the drain, if the safety and security measures go for a toss!
However, I personally feel that these safety and security measures should be a big deal, not just for schools or other educational institutions, but for even us, the parents.
Take a Stand for Safety
Hence, as parents, unless we question or pinpoint the lapses or the problem areas, the school might not do anything. Hence, questioning or raising concerns should be our duty towards building effective school safety system, as well.
After all, as parents we are the primary ones to be answerable for our own child’s safety and security. For this, if you have to cross that extra mile, of questioning the school and the authorities on safety, then don’t hesitate.
Your questions and voices will ring an alarm somewhere and they might look into their problem areas.
For instance, in India, CBSE schools like Kendriya Vidyalaya, have stepped up security concerns, after the murder of a seven year old boy in a popular school in Gurugram. The hue and cry and series of protests after his death was what fuelled the government to step in and take action regarding the school safety.
The CBSE board, post that incident, issued a safety guideline, forcing all the CBSE schools to follow the norms. In fact, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, which is under the ministry of Human Resources, deployed deputy commissioners in their areas, to foresee any laxity in safety procedures. Right from background checks of the school staff, to upping the CCTV surveillance for detailed monitoring, schools are now trying to focus on the safety and security of the children than ever before.
Even the private schools, owing to the pressure created by similar incidents have all beefed up their security measures! The only trigger was the collective efforts of the voices that came in the aftermath of such incidents. Sometimes, collective efforts and voices are all that bring a difference or rather a new change.
However, the only unfortunate issue is that we often raise concern after we witness such incidents. Let us not wait for such incidents to happen, but question right away, while everything is fine and seemingly smoothly. Talk to kids about school safety and empower them against tragedy.
Our questions act as trigger or rather a deterrent and force authorities to look into their procedures. If not asked, nobody does anything or takes accountability of anything. The rule is the same for individuals as well as organizations, which in turn are also run by several individuals. Hence, do the needful first as a parent and as an individual and then question! Safety and security of children should be everyone’s concern and not just any one.
A freelance creative writer and blogger for the past 7 years, Malvika Roy SIngh writes about subjects like travel, food, lifestyle, health, interior designing, real estate, digital entertainment, media and marketing, education etc. Her parenting blog helps her be a conscious parent (www.wipmom.com) When she is not writing, she can be found either running or playing with her 4 year old son enjoying time reading. She resides in Hyderabad and can be reached at mroysingh@gmail.com
6 Responses
As a mother of two school-aged children, I completely agree that it is very important to talk to them about school safety. I hope that an incident never occurs at their school, but in the event that it does, I want to make sure they are as prepared as a 9 and 5 year old can be.
Thank you for this post. I am not a parent(college senior), but i do have younger siblings who are in grade school and i fear for them everyday. We all need to work together to make sure all children are protected.
This is so scary! Safety has to come first!
As an expecting mom these events are just so scary! Makes you really start to consider what the schools will be like when our kids are attending and what we can do about it.
As parents, we must have open conversations with our children. Things can still be missed, but having discussions may help pinpoint issues or concerns.
This is such important advice, especially right now. Our school has taken proactive steps to protect against violence, and even has the children doing drills. I hate that they have to learn about violence like this, but I’m glad they are prepared just in case.