In a unique initiative to teach the children about sexual abuse, a UP-cadre IAS officer in Ghaziabad has started a game that will teach the children about good touch and bad touch. Young children often do not understand that they are being abused and sometimes this abuse turns into sexual abuse. So, in a brilliant initiative to create awareness among children and their parents, Ms. Asmita Lal, IAS officer of 2015-batch and Chief Development Officer of Ghaziabad, has started a board game in schools for up to Class 5 students, through which many important things related to sexual abuse will be taught to the children.
Indian Masterminds interacted with IAS officer, Ms. Asmita Lal, to know more about this initiative.
BOARD GAME
This board game will have three playing cards of red, green, and yellow colours. The red card will contain questions and answers related to laws to protect against sexual harassment. Yellow card will contain questions and answers related to general knowledge. And the green card is used to make certain tricks to play the game.
The district administration has introduced this game in both government and private schools. It is being provided free. Ms. Lal said, “Whenever we used to go to school, college or children’s ashram for inspection in Ghaziabad, we used to realize that young children have to learn about law, child rights, juvenile justice act or POSCO, apart from schooling. Children should know about all these provisions. So,we developed this game.This game conveys all the information to the children in a very interesting way. Its language has also been kept very simple so that children do not have any problem in understanding.”
She further informed that the Women and Child Welfare Department is trying to implement it in all districts to save young children from sexual violence. Through games, children will now be informed about the existing laws against sexual harassment. The idea is to educate them that if someone is touching them in a wrong way, then they should not hide the information but share it, so that action can be taken against the wrongdoers.
Ms. Lal said, “Today, even small children are becoming victims of physical abuse, and not only girls but also small boys are victims of it. If children are made aware about this from childhood, then they themselves will understand who touches them well and whose touch is bad. Through this game, children will be taught good and bad touch so that they will be able to easily identify and inform their teachers or family members about any abuse.”
HOW IT WORKS
The board game is like Ludo and Snakes & Ladders, with some new changes. It has red, yellow and green colour cards, and each colour carries a message. The red card will have questions and answers related to sexual harassment, yellow will have general knowledge, and the children will be able to play games with the green card.
Children will get a playing card for every trick. If they answer the question on the playing card correctly, they will be allowed to make a second move. If the answer is wrong, the other player will be given a chance to make a move. Thus, while playing, children will be able to gain general knowledge and information about sexual harassment prevention during the game itself. This game will be played in the presence of the teacher, so that if any question comes to the mind of the children, it can be explained to them in detail.
It is also a matter of fact that children learn very easily through play. Games like Snakes & Ladders and Ludo are fun to play, whether on board or on mobile. The specialty of this particular game is that it is also being used to educate children.
HOW THE IDEA WAS BORN
The officer informed that there is an organisation in Goa, called ‘Annyay Rahit Zindgi Sanstha’. This organisation uses a board game to create awareness among children in Goa. When Ms. Lal came to know about this, she got the complete information from them. Then, she along with her team revamped this game and some important changes in it. The game was ready within just a month.
NUMBERS
According to recently released data of NCRB, 32,608 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 in the year 2017. At the same time, 39,827 cases were registered under this law in 2018. That is why, spreading information about child sexual abuse is extremely important, and IAS officer Ms. Asmita Lal has taken a laudable step to coat such awarenes with games for children to grasp easily.
