By TFL Mawlong
International Human Right Law states that a child has two types of rights – the general human rights and some special rights for physical, mental and social well being of a child. Several legislations have been enacted ranging from the Right to Education, Prohibition of Child labour to the Juvenile Justice Act. But crimes against children go on. News of child molestation, forced labour and unjust inequality is continually streaming our media. What happened to the kids is something we hear and see in the media with disbelieving eyes. We usually ask ourselves; how could people commit such horrible deeds? How can that really happen in our society? We would spare no emotions in showing our concern. Granted, society never stops contemplating the miserable injustice and child abuses here as the world over. But shrouded in a thick grey mist of perplexity we forget to look at the lesser known rights of the children. Does our so called fortunate child truly enjoy his/her childhood? Does he/she fully enjoy his/her right? There is so much in our society that we take for granted.
Many children are being abused right from their mother’s womb. Seeking to protect the ‘physical right’ of the ‘unborn child’, the Government introduced schemes such as the ‘ Indira Gandhi Matrivata Sahyog Yojana’. But most of our parents fail to understand the importance of this right to a child. Fathers were seen mindlessly and irresponsibly smoking near the pregnant mothers. Are the parents so ignorant of the effects of cigarette smoke on the unborn child? Or are they just simply being indifferent. Mind that the harmful impact on the unborn child can’t be undone later.
Look around, the wide-eyed innocent children are trying to make sense of the legacy they were left behind with. Foremost being the irrational words and attitudes of parents at the ‘Rympei’. Words live. The ‘parents’ words breathe among the children. So when parents at the ‘Rympei’ speak ill of or criticize others constantly enough, the same mentality is evoked in the children, howsoever flippant the remarks might be. If a child hears his/her mother denouncing the elected political leaders as crooks, he/she may repeat that opinion in class or later in life. So the characters of children get negatively shaped unrealistically. And then there is this onslaught of commercial advertisements trying to get children to form specific attitudes towards their product. I feel sorry for the children. Their freedom to choose one’s attitude is significantly being discounted. Not to forget the idiot machine called television doing its own bit. These machines would glorify and re-glorify horrors and violence. Consequently, children would become obsessed with violence and pain and what not. The purity and innocence of a child is prematurely killed. Honesty is fast replaced with hypocrisy. And behold just like that the ‘gem of childhood’ is robbed away.
Then there is a materialistic world getting the best of children. We may not realize but materialism has its toll on the ‘value of childhood’. Love of smart phones is one example. It has been projected that by 2019, smart phone users in India will touch 651 million. Of these, huge portions are children and the youngster. Kids are asking for costly gadgets from their parents because their friends have it. They think of it as a basic necessity of life. There is a compulsive desire to not wait for something to happen. They are getting too accustomed to instant gratification which is the worst for a child. By giving the children whatever they want we are robbing them of the opportunity to grow up with the understanding of how difficult it is to achieve or buy something. The fault is not in the kids. It is in the society and parents.
All the more, smart phones also create a social divide among school children. The basic principle on which a school is based is ‘Equality’. In fact due to this, a dress code was introduced in the schools. But, regretfully the smart phones that we irresponsibly buy for the kids have come to violate this. Who should we blame- The technology? – It is our materialistic way of life which has blind folded us. The widening social inequality among school children is alarming. Much to the pangs of the impoverished children.
Yet another truth is that children of our civilization scarcely have the freedom to follow their instincts. Most parents discourage their kids to mingle with the local kids. This is the attitude of the worst kind towards children. Social interaction which is so indispensable in childhood is reduced to a bare minimum. So gone are the days when children in every locality mingle together and share the heavenly pleasure they find in simple things like blowing of soap bubbles, swinging on swings etc, absorbing themselves in each other’s smile, laughter, kindness, empathy or sometimes, petty viciousness! When the freedom of a child is taken away, the ‘sweetness of childhood‘ loses its vigour.
And lest we forget, our localities too have been left with very little or no space for playground or community parks for the children. The environment too is fast degrading leaving no space for children to play or while their time. How many of us understand that ‘we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children?’ Our environment belongs to the children. It must be a painful sight for the children’s souls to see that without any consideration trees are felled, rivers are poisoned and so on. Further the divorce cases are on the rise. Without question, the worst sufferers in a divorce culture are the children. It is a shame that their childhood does not get the protection it deserves.
Am I insulting the civilization by writing all these? Am I insulting the parents? Never, that is not the intention. If you had taken the chance to spend time reading this short and unpleasant document, you would have perhaps understood my intention in writing this. And I write all these with perfect sanity. As there is no public language for private emotions, it may well have sounded private and irrelevant to many. But I assure you that the children, in their ‘silence’, are unconsciously crying out loud for their rights. Comrades, I strongly suggest that we listen to the silent cry of the innocents! Let us preserve and protect their precious childhood! Let them have a glorious childhood! Let them dream and let them discover!