The recent shootout in an army run school in Peshawar is a scary reminder to us even in India that our schools are no longer safe for our children. A school is revered everywhere in the world as a temple of learning and is therefore considered sacred. Parents send their children to school with a lot of expectations. The parents have faith in the school management and the staff and rest assured that their children are in safe hands. But each time their confidence gets shaken up.
A child is a creation of God, an innocent, helpless and harmless creature. He knows that he will not come to any harm as long as those who care for him are around. A child does not have anything to do with violence, rape, terror or any other evil. Then why do young, innocent school children become such soft targets? Why can we not guarantee their safety at least while they are in a temple of learning?
In foreign countries school children sometimes go on a rampage shooting their schoolmates. In our own country and even in our tiny state of Goa, children are not safe in schools. Teachers and other staff members brazenly assault the children sexually and rape them in the school premises during school hours. The recent case of a student who was raped in the toilet of a school in Vasco is still haunting the people of Goa. To make matters worse, very often there are long delays in fixing the blame on the accused thus causing delay in the delivery of justice to the victim child. In many schools all over the country children are subjected to sometimes inhuman corporal punishments like standing in the sun the whole day, brutal beating, ridicule, humiliation etc. Such punishments cause not only physical harm to the child but can also traumatize a child for life. Such punishments sometimes also result in the death of children. Mid-day meals are another hazard in many schools. Food very often becomes the source of food poisoning for these children. Bullying and ragging by peers and so-called seniors in schools and other educational institutions are other nightmares for the students. Such students are sometimes terrified to attend their place of learning. Sometimes they end up commit suicide.
What can be done to ensure a fair amount of safety for our students? CCTVs should be installed everywhere in the school premises so that whatever wrong is being done in the school can be spotted at once. Entry of outsiders in the school should be screened carefully so that unwanted anti-social and anti-national elements are not allowed to enter the premises. As far as possible children should not be left unattended in classrooms, toilets etc. Anyone found guilty of harming children, whether they are staff members or not, should be severely punished if found guilty.
Investigation and punishment should be immediate to have a deterrent effect. At the same time children should not be made to feel that they are being sort of ‘imprisoned’ within their schools. This can create a fear psychosis in the minds of the children. If the safety measures that have been put into place are explained carefully and meaningfully to the children, they will be able to appreciate that whatever is being done is in their own interest and safety.
