To be combined with a story on Aceh children

Meanwhile, the chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection, Seto Mulyadi, emphasized the importance of adopting effective approaches for handling traumatized children to allow them to have fun and be happy.

"Having fun and feeling happy are rights of children and we must honor that," he told the Post.

Therefore, he said, play therapy is necessary for traumatized children. "Play therapy is aimed at helping traumatized children in Aceh regain their confidence," said Mulyadi.

Children can also learn through creativity studios and mobile schooling instead of formal education, he said.

Acehnese schoolchildren are in a difficult situation and thus should be exempt from curriculum-based education, he said.

Mulyadi regretted that many schools in Aceh required students to take the national final examination, saying the examination would only add more stress to them.

"At least 50 percent of Acehnese students who took the final examination failed the exam. As a result, many of them have lost their self-confidence and have a negative self-image," he said.

Using the wrong approach to treat children who have been through a trauma can create new wounds, he said.

"Until next year, Acehnese children should be exempt from curriculum-based education because many of them who have lost their parents and relatives are still confused and traumatized," he said.

According to Mulyadi, continuous attention should be given to these children so the do not feel alienated. "Alienation can lead them to destructive actions like committing suicide."

A correspondence program between Acehnese students and other children across Indonesia and around the world launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in January should be intensified, he said. "Writing letters to other children is an effective way of helping them overcome their trauma."

Mulyadi also warned that poverty and desperation in Aceh and Nias could lead to child trafficking. "Parents might end up receiving offers and advice that their children should leave Aceh and move somewhere else for a better life," he warned.