CHENNAI: It’s been over a decade since the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. This legislation was crafted to tackle sexual exploitation and abuse of children, filling the gaps — such acts were either ambiguously defined or insufficiently penalised. With social media and more resources, awareness on sexual harassment is out there. But the number of cases of child abuse remains high. This was a factor that motivated Prakash Vaithyanathan, a science teacher from the city, to create an initiative for children so that they are constantly aware.
An artful advocacy
A pencil box with a cartoon sticker inside it — the cartoon illustrates different symptoms a kid might experience in a dangerous situation — faster heartbeat, sweating, tightness etc. By giving excerpts of sex education through a pencil box, which is an integral tool in a student’s life, Prakash thinks it might be an easy way of creating awareness. “If we look at small children, particularly LKG to class 5, there is only little information available, like safe and unsafe touches. Schools usually organise workshops, but these once-in-a-year events cannot create an impact on kids. They need to be informed clearly and constantly,” he says.
Prakash has been a school teacher for the past 32 years and in the initial years, he had also served as a storyteller for the small children besides teaching maths and science for the higher classes. “During the storytelling sessions, I got to interact with them more and observe what they have been going through. A lot of children are getting abused and are witnessing domestic violence at home,” he notes. It is important for the parents to have awareness first, concurs the teacher. Parents, especially mothers, are the best teachers and they can teach children about the body parts that they could allow anyone to touch and which parts one should not. To the curious questions, they can respond by discussing certain body reactions can happen naturally in the kids.
To reach the children in the easiest and accessible form, this teacher took the route of cartoons. He made an outline of the cartoons and with the help of another artist, created the poster that needed to be pasted on the pencil box. “I didn’t want to create illustrations where private parts are being shown and the abuse is being mentioned, as it can be triggering. So I thought the children will be informed first about topics like safe and unsafe touch and these cartoons will serve as a constant reminder of what a dangerous situation can look like,” he says.
Sometimes when the child is being touched, they aren’t conscious of it. Prakash adds that there is a chance that these symptoms might not occur, and the body can become numb. He says, “Even in that case, since the kids are constantly informed, there is a higher chance of them reporting the incidents. Ninety nine per cent of the cases occur because the children don’t understand what’s happening and thus don’t report.”
Prakash has been self-employed for the past few years and also teaches students for NEET exams via Zoom, with a focus on students from rural areas. An alumnus of IIT Madras, he has been taking initiatives for the welfare of society. With this new project, he hopes to reach more school children in the state and also in the country. “I had pitched the idea to Ajith Prasath Jain, former principal of Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, who has also received the best teacher award from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. I requested him to start the initiative from Tirupur as it is the land of freedom fighter Kodi Kaatha Kumaran and he is synonymous with courage. He has referred me to KMC School, Tirupur.” Prakash hopes that it will be a start to an initiative where conversations about sex education are unavoidable parts of the curriculum.