4-yr-old boy booked for raping classmate: Unsafe schools are India's growing nightmare
Troubled children are a danger to themselves and to others.
In yet another horrific incident reported from a school campus in the recent months, a four-year-old girl has been raped in her classroom and toilet at a reputable Delhi school. What is more disturbing is that her classmate, a four-year-old boy, has been booked for the crime.
According to the police, the boy allegedly used his fingers and a sharpened pencil to sexually assault her.
While what pushed a toddler to commit such an act needs to be looked into by experts and every effort made to provide the necessary help and counselling to both children, some factors in the crime are repetitive.
The girl’s mother has alleged that the school refused to take responsibility for the incident and did not cooperate with her when she complained. She has claimed that while she intimated the girl’s teacher about the incident on November 17, Friday, the day it took place, and reported it to the school on Saturday, she was asked to submit a written complaint on Monday.
The girl is also learnt to have told her mother that on the two occasions when her classmate assaulted her, they were alone in the class and in the toilet.
If the victim’s mother is right, this is not the first time that negligence on part of a school has led to a horrible crime being committed on its premises. On November 22, Ashok Kumar — a school bus conductor — walked out of jail 76 days after he was arrested for the murder of Pradyuman Thakur, a seven-year-old student at Gurgaon's Ryan International School.
A CBI probe has revealed that the child was murdered by a Class 11 student of the same school.
That tragedy was followed by the news of the rape of a five-year-old girl at an East Delhi school on September 9.
Every time such an incident is reported, especially if the crime has been committed at popular school, there is uproar and some knee-jerk steps are taken, to send out the message that something is being done.
After the two crimes reported in September, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued safety and security guidelines for all schools. The Centre too formed an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the implementation of safety measures in schools across the country.
Police forces in different cities have their own sets of school safety guidelines.
It is true that a lot more needs to be done to make schools safe for students. However, a lot of these measures tend to focus on outside-ing the problem – building high boundary walls, making sure there is only one entry and exit gate, conducting police verification of all staff, et al.
All of these are necessary, much-needed steps. But instead of coming out with a new set of guidelines every time something goes wrong, what is required is strict observance of some simple rules, and the recognition that the threat lies as much inside as outside – students are troubled, and hence, at times, they are a danger to themselves and to others.
Measures like a CCTV camera can never be a substitute for human presence. Schools need to ensure that two to three children are not left unattended, a teacher or an ayah is present in classrooms and toilets at all times, students are given the confidence to approach authorities if something goes wrong.
And schools need to accept responsibility, help the parents and the police, when a crime is committed. The reputation of a school is never more important than the welfare of a child.
The times we live in are changing. Students are going through a churn that schools, and even parents, find difficult to fathom, let alone address. Children are exposed to violence and all kinds of adult behaviour through the TV, the internet and video games, which they do not have anyone to discuss with. Busy parents, despite trying their best, do not have enough time to spend with their children.
Stifling competition, the desire to live up to images celebrated in cinema and pop culture, early onset of puberty, among other factors, are confusing and disorienting children.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the crime rate for juveniles showed a substantial rise between 2010 and 2014. The incidence of depression is rising among children. Rise in bullying is yet to be recognised for the lethal reality that it is.
In such a scenario, the solution cannot come through “external” agencies such as the government or the police. The first step to address these issues is through communication with students, in which schools — responsible for the holistic development of children — need to play a greater role.
Troubled students often give out warning signs. Teachers can no longer shy away from subjects they find difficult to take up, and hence either ignore or hope parents will take care of. Schools need dedicated and trained counsellors whom students feel comfortable enough approaching.
We need to recognise that children are in danger, and the first response must come from those closest to them – the family and the school.