Gender sensitization week was observed in Ekya School ITPL from 15th to 19th July 2019. The aim of the Gender Sensitization program was to help students (Grades 1-12) understand how amazing their body is, and emphasize that this body is a gift, like all wonderful things in this world that need to be attended to and looked after well. The simplest way to protect this body was to understand personal space. This personal space is flexible – meaning some people are allowed in (our safe adults – parents, doctors, teachers) and some must stay out.
There are some parts of the body that we need to be a “little more careful” with ie: mouth, chest and private parts. So how do we protect this body? By following the 3 rules – clothing rule, touching rule and talking rule. If a thief broke into our homes and stole our belongings – it’s not our fault as the thief broke the rule, if a person breaks the rules then THEY are at fault. The session concluded with reiterating that most adults are safe and if someone broke the 3 rules then one must shout “No” and go away from them. And, tell their safe adult about it.
Examples and role plays were used to keep the session interactive. It was amazing how children were aware of personal space – helping them talk about what is safe and unsafe helps them realize body autonomy. Questions like “is it okay if I don’t want to hug my relatives,” “is it okay to hug my cousins,” helped the students establish that they were the boss of their body. The session concluded by asking the students to draw the outline of their hands and mention names of 5 safe adults that they would talk to. The students performed a skit which emphasized the meaning and importance of consent and what happens when consent is not given.
All our children from Primary to Secondary, engaged in a discussion about the importance of consent by identifying the problem in the situation and suggested solutions themselves. They felt empowered and appreciated as they figured the solutions themselves. Children were taken through safety rules and guides and an interactive session made it a fruitful Gender Sensitization week. Students were also informed of 1098 – a contact number for the children’s helpline.
“Frugality includes all the other virtues." --Cicero
Managing money has always been an important skill. The more financial savvy your children are, the better spending decisions they will make throughout their lives. We have all been through an age where money was touched, felt and valued. It was mostly paper money. But now with Debit/Credit Cards, Mobile Wallets, and Internet Banking, children don’t see currency and coins. Online shopping is a secret genie with one-click checkout, to make an item appear at your house “There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard”. You would all have been in a situation where the excuse for not having money is countered with “Take it from the ATM”. Bingo! Isn’t it? This invisible money gives the impression of an unlimited resource. Preaching doesn’t work today and it is best to get our kids involved in money management as appropriate with respect to age. Children from the age of 3-4 years can start to understand the concept of saving and spending. The importance of money can be taught early through real-life situations. Eg. When in an ATM, we can talk about how money is earned through hard work and when in the supermarket one can ask “What is expensive? What is really needed? How do we compare?” to evoke concepts of thoughtful spending. These help sow seeds of money management in our child’s mind. Children are curious and want to show that they have grown. Make them involved and responsible for budgeting and financial planning. For instance, they plan what things are required and make an appropriate list for a supermarket visit or decide the number of dinners/family outings within their given budget. It makes them feel valued and encourages thought process around money management. If the child is too young, he/she may not understand the concept of investing and interest rates but we can give them piggy banks/container for Saving, Spending & Sharing - where they put their allowances equally in these containers. It is a very easy way to learn the importance of saving. They can ‘spend’ for their candy or a book or a ball and ‘save’ for a more priced possession until they can afford it. It will usually be a more expensive item than candy or chocolate. It helps them learn delayed gratification, the importance of being patient and about savings & accrual. They intuitively start counting whenever money gets added in savings and gets removed from spending to see what is left, putting a value against money. The ‘Sharing’ jar will help understand philanthropy, donating to the needy or a cause and make them a compassionate human being. Trips to the supermarket or shopping can be used to help make your child a wise consumer or smart buyer. You can show that you can shop around and see a cheaper and expensive product and save by making the right decision comparing price, quality, and quantity. It would be a good idea to take elder kids to the bank and open an account. This will introduce the concept of interest/credit and how money grows & income can be generated. Teenagers can learn how credit is used by businesses/entrepreneurs and how to make wise investments. Essentially, creating learning opportunities at every age/step is the key to develop this important skill from a young age to adulthood.As the saying goes - Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you retire, save.
Leave a reply