As part of the curriculum on ‘foundations of citizenship’ in afterschool centers, we had introduced children to the concept of child rights based on UNCRC. Through our discussion with partner organization, we sensed that it was important that children get to relate these rights to their immediate reality, as only then would it have a certain ‘meaning’ for them.

We also discussed Right to Education Act 2009 in general and specifically mentioned the clause pertaining to corporal punishment being banned as per the Act. Children realize that inspite of this intervention, getting beaten at school is not very uncommon.
Some of the children even started using the language of rights at home and school and there were questions from the parents on what are we actually teaching them.

One of the important aspects of working with children is that the messages that they get in their sessions should not be contradictory to the experiences that they have at home or school. Secondly, by simply bringing the concept of right to them, we can’t really empower them, as even if they use that language in front of someone at home or outside, who doesn’t want to value it, it won’t have a positive impact.

The onus of securing these rights of children lies on adults. This is where the need for taking a systemic view on socio emotional well being becomes evident.
We thereafter started conversations with parents where instead of talking about only from a a rights perspective, we spoke to them about the psychological implication of violence on children and secondly got them to start understanding the shifts that happen during adolescence which results in children starting to assert and at times even disobeying the instructions of parents.

As we were having this conversation, we were also mindful of the fact that parents themselves experience tough life conditions and their own socialization has happened in such a way that many of the harsher approaches to dealing with situations seem to be normalized. There is a certain degree of acceptance of usage of force to influence behaviour of children as the general sense amongst parents is that children listen only to force.

We want to continue this dialogue with parents as we realize that once they start developing an appreciation of the nature of mind of a teenager and also start becoming increasingly aware of their own expectations from children, they will be able to tackle several of these conversations in a more amicable manner.