Please note these cartoon strips by children are based on what they see in their schools and not actual happenings. Also, the name of the children who have created the strips have been omitted to protect their identities.
Learn Without Fear blog captures the voices of children across India as they recall their experiences of going through various forms of violence in schools. The blog illustrates these voices in the form of videos, cartoon strips, animations, and radio jingles created by the children themselves. Learn Without Fear is Plan India's advocacy campaign to prevent all forms of violence against children in schools. Read more...
WE, the undersigned, support the Petition launched by Plan India on 26th October 2009, the aim of which is to universally declare and condemn violence against children... Click here to sign the Petition
Children have various forms of expressing themselves. Cartoons & comics is a natural form of expression for any child. Through these comics & cartoon, children have illustrated various forms of violence in schools.
3 out of every 10 students surveyed complained about being engaged in sweeping & cleaning of schools by their teachers http://bit.ly/bLwnoI
Did you know 6 out of every10 students surveyed complained about poor infrastructure in school http://bit.ly/bvLLFa#lwf
20.6% students complained about the need for more classes as there are more than 100 students in every classrooms http://bit.ly/bNoJEP
19.1% of students surveyed complained about the shortage of desk- benches in schools http://bit.ly/9N6KCO#lwf
Did you know 1 out of 20 students surveyed said that mid day meals provided to them in schools are unhealthy http://bit.ly/9Cm0N1#lwfindia
The images capture various activities that take place as part of Learn Without Fear campaign in India
Plan believes that every child has the right to a safe school environment. Our vision is of a world where children can go to school in safety and learn without fear or threats of violence.
If we are seriously to address the issues of school drop-outs and improve school enrolment, we have to ensure that our children learn that violence is never allowed and that they can lead their lives in non-violent ways too.
In this confusing world, people tend to cast aside good manners and ethical values... For that reason and given the crisis that the country is facing, we must join together and do our best to rescue those values.
Working together with teachers' unions can help us to increase political pressure on governments to improve living and working conditions of teachers, which are often at the root of frustration and physical and verbal aggression against children.
I am very happy with this training because it gives us a lot to fight against cases of violence that are common in our communities.
Expecting to stop school violence without addressing its root causes is like equipping a school with computers but no electricity.