The post has been put together by Kartik, Iqra and Anshul – Members, Children’s Advisory Board, Plan India.
The fact that some of the schools have requested CAB to conduct regular session with their students is a testimony to the success of the sessions. In order to answer students’ queries, the CAB members are also accompanied by a psychologist from Max Foundation. Some students at the sessions too have shown quite a positive response as follows:
Incident 1. A student at one of the sessions complained that he was teased by his fellow peers and was called by different names. He wore spectacles, and so fellow students teased him.
The CAB members made a couple of suggestions. Firstly, try to avoid and ignore the person. Otherwise, try to convert the situation into a funny or humorous one. For instance, if the person addresses you as someone who wears specs, you may want to remark that several intelligent people and geniuses wear spectacles.
Incident 2. Quite a few students at the session admitted that they were bullies.
Here, the CAB played a notable role. CAB members asked the students to go back into time and think over such actions by them. To this, many students were actually in tears and admitted that whatever they did was unwise. They even resolved to reform their actions.
Incident 3. Some students shared that school transport was a major place of bullying.
Here, the team suggested that one should take the support of senior students, or the school should have a dedicated anti-bullying group that can monitor the prevalence of such activities. However, it is to be noted that such a group, if any, should be given restricted powers, so that they do not take undue advantage of the responsibility assigned to them.
Incident 4: A student shared that all his classmates tease him by various names & whenever he goes to the teacher to complain about it, she scolds & says “don’t disturb me in middle of a class”.
We suggested that ‘don’t get annoyed when they tease you instead ignore them or just say to them to stop it & leave that place, go to teacher when she is free not in between the class. Don’t take it personally.
Incident 5: A student shared that every one teases me because I neither use abusive language nor treat anyone badly. They call me seedha bacha (timid guy).
We suggested that, it is a good thing about you, never get annoyed by such comments, take it as praise & reply that you are better than them in behavior (tumhare tarah teda nahi hoon). If in difficulty you can approach teacher.
Incident 6: A student shared that whenever I complain to the teacher about the kids who trouble me then they group up together afterwards & start complaining about me, as a result of which I get scolded.
We suggested that the best way in this situation is to go to the teacher when she is in the staffroom, discuss everything with her in detail and ask her to observe those kids. She will soon realize her mistake & will listen to you in future.
Call for Action
If you want sessions to be conducted at your school, please email at planindia@plan-international.org or write to us at Children’s Advisory board, Plan India, E-12 Kailash Colony, New Delhi.
