No more taking youngsters for granted
JOHN L. PAUL
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The young have rights too.
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Children today too are demanding an audience, to air their demands and grievances. The second periodic report on the Child Rights Convention is under way. The first report was published in 2001. The Child Rights Resource Centre at the Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kalamassery, organised a State-level consultation programme a week ago, with the help of the Chennai office of the UNICEF, to review the CRC performance in the State. The opinions would be forwarded to the
Government.
Twenty eight students, two from each district, participated in the programme, along with representatives from a cross-section of society. The children came up with a host of demands, including an end to discrimination of children within and outside the classroom. They lashed out against the discriminatory treatment meted out to AIDS-affected children and handicapped children.
Childline
Many spoke about the discrimination shown by school managements and teachers to those who were not as smart as their peers and to financially-backward students. Another demand was that student unions give up their violent modes of protest, and opt for constructive ways of registering their opposition.
“Parents and teachers must take children into confidence, at different levels. The PTA should become PCTA - Parent Child Teacher Association,” said one of the participants. He said that the body should have representatives from among students as well. Inadequacy of infrastructure like bathrooms in some schools, and child labour too came up for criticism.
One participant said that teachers must be friendlier with students. End ragging, asserted another. The children also spoke of the travails that they faced in commuting to school. Another demand was to start Childline (phone 1098) centres in all districts.
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