Daily Times

The heartbreaking harassment scandal at one of the LGS campuses in Lahore has enforced the parents to worry about protection of their children, especially daughters. The concept of putting whole responsibility on the shoulders of schools’ academic and administrative staff has proved wrong. Unfortunately, the private schools in Pakistan are more prone to do business and collect revenues. They have least inclination towards moral and ethical development of their faculty and the young students. This is where parents could take one step forward and ensure the protection of their children through constructive participation in the school procedures.

The felons must be brought to book immediately for every child has right to be safe at school. Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 sentences three-year imprisonment to the offender who takes photographs or videos of the victim for propagation on the internet leading to brutal act of blackmailing. Sections 354A, 366A, 496C and 509 of the Pakistan Penal Code give clear description of the harassment crimes and subsequent retributions. All the Pakistanis must know about these protective laws to nip crime in the bud.

The parents now really need to bridge unnecessary communication gap that could otherwise take their children away from their supervision. Make friends with your children and build enormous trust to avoid misnomers in future

Formulation of the proposed ParentClub in every school could fix the problem. Presence of parents’ representatives in the school premises could yield better results in terms of protection of the children, behaviour of the teachers and support staff, and an overall decorum of the campus. The government could make compulsory for the schools to provide a separate office for the parents’ representatives. The parents could, in their own discretion, select either mothers or fathers turn by turn to be voluntarily posted at the Parent Loungeestablished at all branches of the schools. The representatives of the parents must be on campus to keep a watch on the activities, exchange information with teachers, identify abilities of the staff, and collaborate with school administration to bolster character building measures.

Many countriesof the world understand the importance of parents’ associations in schools. Better parent-teacher relationship does magic when it comes to children’s emotional development, latent learning, character building and moral elevation. It even makes convenient for the school administration to streamline its plans in the best interest of students. Discriminatory treatment in schools is yet another problem faced by the children. Parents’ smart participation could contribute to healthy schooling of the young ones.

Since the private schools in Pakistan have turned into a mafia for accumulating huge money at any cost, they have put their long hand into the pockets of the parents. Previously, the private schools marred the essence of the Supreme Court’s ruling of December 2018, and later, showed stubbornness in lowering the fees during COVID-19 period. These are the parents who could bring All Pakistan Private Schools Federation to its knees and offer their voluntary participation in the schools during working hours.

A bit more than 50 percent of the private schools operate in Lahore alone. Not only the aforementioned LGS campus, but also a few branches of the famous school systems are suspected to spoiling the sanctity of education. Efficient parental participation could identify theactors who are performing the devil’s role by camouflaging children’s character through one way or the other.

No school in Pakistan does security check while recruiting its teaching and administrative staff. Who knows the criminals have disguised themselves under the veils of education! Knowing the background of the teachers could prove instrumental in curtailing the entry of morally eroded teachers to the educational institutions.

Rigorous behavioral audit of the teaching faculty has become need of the hour. The pertinent governmental department could conduct behavioral audit of the educational staff to evaluate mentors’ suitability to teach the young brains. Country’s psychologists and social scientists could be utilized in this regard. Students’ participation in evaluating behaviour of teachers could largely assist. The management could introduce student-teacher interaction manuals in order to spring a protected on-campus culture.

Parenting styles in Pakistan had never been in line with what the contemporary social stratification calls for. Mostly, parents think that the Montessori houses, day care centers, schools and intermediate level colleges assume full responsibility of their children.Therefore, the need to keep a check on the aggregate behaviour of the teachers and schoolmates is ignored in the long-run. We need to change our parenting styles to preserve our children’s superego, character and confidence. It is good to communicate to your offspring in an acceptable way. Just try to give cushion to your children helping them discuss their problems with you! The parents now really need to bridge unnecessary communication gap that could otherwise take their children away from their supervision. Makefriends with your children and build enormous trust to avoid misnomers in future.

Despite government’s furious intentions against child abuse and harassment, the problem does not seem to be fixed. Meaningful parental participation in the schools therefore could change the situation.

The writer is researcher and journalist