The recent Bois Locker Room incident, where adolescent boys were found to be sharing pictures of girls along with lewd comments, has brought to the fore the need for early interventions at the school and parental level, to raise responsible youngsters.
“My first thought was that we need to educate our boys. All of us blame the girls, but we actually need to teach our boys to respect girls. All this needs to be taught right from primary school and not after they enter the fifth grade,” said Dr. Zoya Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner (Adolescent Health), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Personal safety, health
Dr. Rizvi was speaking at a webinar on Thursday, on the personal safety and health of adolescents and the role of parents, teachers and society in helping them become responsible adults. The webinar was organised by the NGO Arpan, which works in the field of child health.
Soledad Herrero, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF India, said the focus has been more on a legalistic and responsive approach, and less on prevention and changes in social behaviour.
“It is critical to provide the right protection programmes to adolescents as life skills are important for the children to become self-reliant and emotionally regulated humans who can make the right decisions,” she said.
Ms. Herrero said programmes for adolescents’ parents are important to ensure the family is well equipped and prepared to deal with their needs and questions, energy and excitement.
Professor Saroj Yadav, Dean (Academic), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), spoke of the role teachers play in shaping adolescents’ lives. “Gone are the days when teachers thought they will be called out for discussing sensitive issues in schools. A matter might be sensitive for a teacher, but the child might not think so,” she said.
‘Question Box’
The NCERT has suggested a ‘Question Box’ activity, wherein students can put in their queries anonymously, and are involved in the process of question collection and answer preparation.
Prof. Yadav also said it was important to invest in the health requirements of the younger generation. “The number of adolescents is very high in India and are a positive resource, but if they are not provided accurate and scientific information to build their life skills, we won’t achieve sustainable development.”
While the adolescent period is full of opportunities, it is also associated with a lot of risk, said Ms. Herrero. “Sexual abuse is a worldwide issue and one out of five children faces it. The largest number of violent deaths happen in this age group.”
According to the National Family Health Survey, at least 16% of adolescent girls have reportedly suffered violence, she said. “The main issue is the lack of a good support system.”
