Academic: Child Protection in Schools Needs Special Attention
Tangerang (ANTARA) - Nicholas Indra, a psychology lecturer at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, said challenges in protecting children still require particular attention, especially cases of bullying in schools and other educational settings.
“The challenges remain substantial, including bullying in schools and Islamic boarding schools. This means efforts to promote and prevent harm through education about children’s rights must continue,” Nicholas said at a training session on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at Tangerang City Hall on Wednesday.
He said it remained important to raise awareness of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Prevention efforts should go hand in hand with accessible complaint channels, so that children and members of the public are not reluctant to report suspected violence around them.
Tangerang Deputy Mayor Maryono said the city’s Child-Friendly City status was no reason to stop strengthening child protection. He said ongoing training, innovation and assistance were needed to ensure every child’s rights were upheld and children were protected from all forms of violence.
He added that the Tangerang city administration was also promoting support for children who had experienced violence or bullying, including assistance from professional psychologists. The measures are intended to create a safe, comfortable environment conducive to children’s development.
“We hope these programmes will continue and be strengthened, so that all forms of violence, abuse and bullying against children in Tangerang can be minimised,” he added.
Tihar Sopian, head of Tangerang’s Office for Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection, Population Control and Family Planning (DP3AP2KB), said the CRC training was intended to improve policymakers’, educators’ and the public’s understanding of children’s rights and the regulations governing them.
He said every child had the right to health, development, safety and comfort. Understanding these rights therefore needed to be matched by practical implementation in families, schools and communities, as well as in the administration of government.
“Through the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we want stakeholders to understand the regulations on children’s rights, know which rights must be fulfilled, and learn how to put them into practice in everyday life,” Tihar said.
The training was attended by 100 participants representing various stakeholder groups, including schools, foundations, the prosecutor’s office, the Correctional Centre (Bapas) and the Children’s Forum.
“This cross-sector collaboration is expected to strengthen cooperation in achieving comprehensive and sustainable child protection,” he said.