------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Goa's kids, the whipping boys of stressed parents... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by SHARON SEQUEIRA
"It's my child, I can do whatever I want with him." How many parents have this attitude? And how often does it translate into the child literally being the 'whipping boy' for the parents' frustrations?According to Audrey Pinto of the Panjim-based non-governmental organisation Children's Rights in Goa (CRG), the incidents of reporting of physical abuse of children by their parents are increasing in Goa."Very often there is trouble in the home, or it is a broken family and sometimes the parents just cannot cope with the stress and take out the frustration on the kids", says Pinto.Surprisingly, most of the cases of beating are where the mother vents her frustration on the child. Beating by the father is usually the case when he is an alcoholic.HOSTILE TO help: Pinto finds that, in such cases, the parent in question is often hostile to outside intervention, and will resent any interference in the bringing up of the child."Parents often will not admit that the fault lies with them and not with the child", she adds, to the extent that the counselor has to pretend to be counseling the child, when in fact she is counseling the parent.
Statistics were not available of the number of cases, however CRG states that awareness regarding physical abuse has increased, leading to a corresponding rise in the number of cases being registered. Registration is done either by an older child or by a neighbour or relative. Another offshoot of the parent's sometimes irrational behaviour is seen in the excessive attention seeking behaviour of the child. Some of these kids compulsively run away from home for a few days, steal for no reason at all and then return the stolen article and carry out general antics to get attention.he cause of this behaviour in some cases has been attributed to the extra pressure put by the parent on the child to achieve and perform in various ways.
According to Neri Fernandes of Childline the telephone- based helpline which offers succour to children in distress when they dial up the four-digit phone number 1098 attention seeking behaviour is extremely common among children coming from broken homes.These kind of problems are seen in the middle class all over Goa, but some other problems faced by children are area specific.
For example Curchorem. DUSTY TOWN: Curchorem has a major problem of dust pollution due to the loading and unloading of ore at the railway station.A huge number of the children here have health problems - be they related to the lung or the skin. The migrant children especially are in close interaction with the more polluted areas and are more prone to these problems.The kids of migrant labourers all over are looked down by the locals. However, at the time of admission into government schools, the story has a twist. These schools welcome them with open arms. Why? Because their numbers are falling and they require a certain minimum student admission. As a result, although the children face discrimination elsewhere, the schools and teachers certainly do not turn them away, and in fact even give them admission late, adds a member of an NGO.Goa's Education Department of late also has been co-operative, he adds, and has given them a place to carry out their non-formal training in the government schools.
CHILD MARRIAGES: According to Gregory D'Costa of Jan Ugahi, under-age marriages among the girls from the backward migrant class Muslim community happen on a regular basis. "This is a common phenomenon", he says. He has also seen some cases of child marriages in labourers especially of the Hindu community who have come in from other states. In some of these cases the girl has been as young as five years.
Sexual abuse of course is rampant, especially among the coastal areas. It is estimated that this climbs by about 50 per cent during the tourist season. Prosecution however is not common, although NGOs are hopeful of prosecution and an improved situation in Goa once the Children's Act and Children's Court falls into place. ------------------------------------ HERALD 2/2/04 page 3 -----------------------------------
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