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17 innocent girls who trusted the school authorities were molested by those whom they trusted to give them a better future.
GururBrahma GururVishnu GururDevo Maheshwaraha
Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha
We may have to replace this hymn revering teachers soon with the names of all the asuras and demons, considering the increasing number of cases of molestations and abuse by teachers, on children who revere them. Every now and then, we see reports of teachers taking advantage of their position to exploit students.
Papers recently flashed the news, ‘17 Innocent Girls Abused In UP’s Muzaffarnagar‘, almost 15 days since the incident took place. Just a few days ago we heard about a teacher in a residential school who forced the girls in 7th grade to bathe naked in front of him and later molested them at night.
Girls look forward to education for a better future, especially those who come from weaker sections of society. 17 innocent girls who trusted the school authorities were molested by those who were supposed to educate them and give them a better future.
17 girls studying in Class 10 in a private recognized school, were taken from home on the pretext of a CBSE practical exam. After consuming food laced with sedatives they lost consciousness. After returning home, they are afraid to go back to school. Not surprising, the culprits are not yet arrested.
As usual, the girls were threatened with consequences if they ever reported the crime. 15 days went by before the crime itself came to light.
What crime was committed against these innocent children who were working hard to clear their 10th exams? How many people were involved? What physical and emotional damage has this incident left on these innocent minds? There are thousands of such questions which we need answers to, or may be we will never get answers for.
This is just one of the many incidents in which innocent girls or women are targeted by those in authority who use their power of position to abuse/molest them.
In recent times the incidents of teachers abusing students have become so that soon we may start to look at it like some movie review. The news brings out hundreds of stories involving the arrest of teachers who are being charged with sexual abuse and misconduct involving their students, while thousands are lost in the silence of the girls who don’t even understand what is happening to them. At times they give in due to the fear caused by threats, or may be sometimes the family ‘protects their honour’ by shutting them up. The victims are reportedly as young as 11 years old or sometimes younger than that.
Dressing them in uniform, packing their tiffin boxes and sending them to school was once considered safe for children, but not anymore.
Schools are expected to be a safe environment for children, but these arrests make people realize that kids aren’t as safe as we’d like them to be when we send them off to school. If we are to believe the statistics of a few NGOs who conduct surveys regarding abuse of students by educators, the children in school are no more safer than those on the streets.
Image credits Carli Jeen on Unsplash
I am Farida Rizwan, 57, Counselor and Psychotherapist working as Senior Curriculum Developer with Chimple Learning. I am the founder of My Giggle Garden, Preschool, and Daycare. I am an ardent blogger @www.chaptersfrommylife.com read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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