Awareness cum Sensitization Programme on “Good Touch and Bad Touch as well as Provisions of POCSO Act” was conducted by deputing Ms. Shreya Saxena, Advocate at Sarvodaya kanya Vidyalaya, Anand Vihar.
The students were apprised of the meaning of ‘Good’, ‘Bad’ and ‘Unsafe’ touch and how to deal with same. It was discussed that Good Touch are those which are safe, appropriate and with the consent of the child. Bad touch on the other hand, can make children feel anxious or uncomfortable and have an underlying sexual nature.
Reliance was placed on visual aids like charts to denote area/ parts intimate parts of the body which were prohibited to touch. The young students were also made aware of the perils of using social media, and cautioned against befriending strangers online and/ or meeting them without their parents’ knowledge/ consent and child pornography etc. Further, the students were educated about effectively tackling any incident of bad or unsafe touch, by removing themselves from the civinity of the perpetrator and seeking the help of a trusted adult, by way of the “No, Go, Tell” rule. They were further taught that in any incident of sexual abuse against a child, the child is not at fault and shouldn’t be scared to bring any such incident to the knowledge of his/her parents, teachers of trusted adult.
Provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 were also introduced as part of the programme. The students were made aware of the protection and safeguards offered to children under 18 years of age from sexual abuse and exploitation. Further, they were also informed of the initiative of the Act to create a safe haven at School for the children, by way of School Complaints Committee, installation of Complaint Box and appointment of a Counsellor at School.
The last leg of the programme was an interactive exercise followed by a questions-answers session wherein pictorial representations of good/bad and unsafe touch were presented to the students, asking them to differentiate between the same and test their knowledge. The exercise garnered good response from the students and indicated comprehension of the issues addressed.