LAHORE, May 31: In a situation where children’s thoughts and emotions are not given importance and their self-esteem and dignity is trampled, it is not surprising that they resort to extreme acts like committing suicide.

In order to sensitise individuals as well as institutions to the factors leading to such ugly situations which result in incidents like suicide by two young students in Abbotabad and Muzaffargarh, the Lahore College for Women University, in collaboration with the Child Rights Movement (CRM) and Child Care Foundation (CCF) on Thursday launched an initiative to promote student-centric approaches in educational institutions.

Speaking at a news conference that later turned into an open discussion on the issue related to child grooming and education, LCWU Vice-Chancellor Dr Sabiha Mansoor said the varsity would prepare a code of conduct not only for higher education institutions but also for schools to ensure that children should study in an enabling environment.

CRM’s Dr Baela Raza Jamil and CCF’s Yasmin Zaki also expressed their full support for the movement and raising awareness among higher education institutions and privileged institutes to raise voice for children’s cause.

They said such an initiative would ultimately prick the government to take stock of the situation that was rapidly deteriorating.

LCWU and Institute for Professional Learning (IPL) students, who also joined in, chided teachers and parents for expecting too much from students and children. They even urged counseling sessions for teachers and parents so that they could be made aware of gravity of the situation.

Dr Mansoor said it was the time all educational institutions should ensure that the environment in schools as well as in hostels was safe for children.

Stating that youth was the window of opportunity, the vice-chancellor said it was collective responsibility of society to protect and groom them in a manner that they could take charge and steer the country out of crisis.

Stating the LCWU was observing zero-tolerance to harassment on its campus, Dr Mansoor regretted the employees union was creating fuss and giving a wrong message to over 10,000 students of the varsity. She said the university would also enforce discipline and it should not be considered a punishment.

The VC said the varsity was also launching a Faculty Development Programme to groom the faculty and senior management so that they could become role models for their peers and students. Dr Mansoor also announced establishment of Human Rights Watch Group to measure stress on students.

CRM’s Dr Jamil shared her concern about the quality of the teachers, saying: “We are creating monsters in schools that are leading minors, including the boy in Faisalabad, to commit suicides”.

She said it was a matter of serious concern that children were taking their own lives to avoid the ‘stigma’ of not speaking English in classrooms.

“When will we (the civil society) come out on roads for the cause of children and organise vigils to jolt the government and look at the deteriorating and uncomfortable circumstances in educational institutions,” she asked. “The CRM is ready to lead a movement for children at national level to save Pakistan,” Dr Jamil said.

CCF’s Ms Zaki said parents were burdening their children with their own frustration. She stressed the media should highlight sensitive issues like child molesting and help the victims regain their dignity and self-esteem. She stressed that civil society should come forward and fight out the crisis-like situation that has developed for children in the country.

The LCWU and IPL students stressed that the teacher-student communication gap should be bridged through counseling. Stating that teachers and parents’ roles needed to be revisited, they stressed that children should be given an environment where they could speak up about their problems and seek remedies. They said parents should give quality time to their children by breaking their busy schedules.

Different faculty members also spoke on the occasion.