Violence against children must stop
A family, or in a larger sense a society, that treats its children in an ill manner will never progress, because children are its future, plain and simple. A society with rich resources can never prosper if its children are not treated well, given the right kind of education and the right atmosphere is created for them to grow up as healthy citizens. And as a consequence they lead a deviated life.
Nobody will say that an ideal atmosphere for children exists in Bangladesh. Far from it, like its women members, children are also constantly facing violence from the elders of society including parents, teachers, and job givers as well as elders in the neighborhoods where children live. A research report showed that all of the 150 children aged below 16 on whom the research was conducted experienced at least three types of violence, physical, and sexual and domestic.
These children were of the lower income group of society. The report reveals 73 per cent of these 150 children needed hospital care. It was also found in the research that around 48 per cent of the children do not live with their parents afterwards and live off of robbery and begging. A hundred percent of them are school dropouts, with no intention to rejoin formal education. No, in Bangladesh society we do not have a small section of people who belong to the lower income group. They are the majority. And this presents a very depressing scenario because the section of rich and educated people in the true sense in our society is small.
While sociologists will point out that a lot of people living in society is yet to learn how to treat children fairly, the fact must be accepted that even though there are stringent laws for deterrence against violence, as they are hardly implemented, the problem is not only continuing, in reality, it is increasing also. That is why to control violence, it is as much necessary to educate the members of the society as it is important to enforce the relevant laws in their words and spirit.
When it is related to educating people about crimes, if education and punishment for criminal behaviour does not act as complementary, it is not possible to bring the desired change in society regarding violence against children. Social awareness development groups and NGOs as well as media with the active help from the government can do this by organizing campaigns against violence. Conscious individuals in their own domains such as families and workplaces can also play their due role.
