Shaukat Hayat
CHILDREN rights are the human rights of the children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. According to the convention of 1989 on the rights of child (CRC) — a child as any human being below the age of 18-while-some general rights applicable to him include: The right to life, the right to security of person, the right to freedom from torture, the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to be separated from adults when charged with a crime, the right to speedy adjudication, and the right to be accorded treatment appropriate to their age.
However in our society, little is focused on to secure children’s rights in actual shape. In view of the growing number of incidents of rapes and violence in society against children, the main stakeholders i.e. the government, the civil society and parents can equally be held responsible for the injustices and discrimination shown to them. It is the prime duty of the state, to provide all sorts of facilities to their students in the schools.
The school management should practically be made capable enough to equip the students with both Islamic and modern tools of knowledge and learning process. There should also be a proper and practical system of check and balance in schools. The school management should be thoroughly equipped to provide security to the children. As against the parents must also be held equally responsible to focus more on their children and let not them put on the mercy of their teachers and schools management alone-because children are our real assets and builders of tomorrow and they must be given some opportunities to groom and develop as healthy citizens.
Alongside it will also be not out of place to say here that the government, the civil society, the political workers, and all the educated and informed circles including media and other stakeholders must come forward together and devise a collective strategy to curb this menace once and for all. Effective campaigns should be launched to create awareness among the public regarding the curse of child abuse and discrimination prevailing in the society. It is indeed a big issue which should be inculcated in the minds of every civilized citizen. Media role in this regard is very crucial and significant because it is the media which can mould the public opinion in an easy and cheaper way especially the fold of social media may be effectively utilized to educate masses about the menace being faced by them in society.
Furthermore, the teachers at schools and colleges levels should arrange seminars, workshops and debates with frequent intervals so as to make their students cognizant about the growing trends of child abuse. Last but not the least, this fact should also be kept in mind that nowadays the importance and utility of studying social sciences have increased manifolds especially after the emergence of child abuse incidents with alarming proportions in our society. Thus the responsibility of the students of social science including those relating especially to the field of journalism, political science and sociology is foremost to create awareness among the people about the evils and unethical norms and customs in our society.
The recent incidents of child abuse have sent a message of alert to the people living in every nook and corner of the country. This has indeed caused a panic and waves of fear and terror in society. In short the time has come to join hands together and foil the evil designs of the miscreants and anti social elements in our society.
—The writer is freelancer, based in Buner, KP
