Teach Your Child Dealing with Social Exclusion

Children learn a lot from their environment which includes family, peers, culture, economic status, etc. Everyone in society should be cautious of the fact that what they are exposing to the children. Every minute thing may create a lifelong impact which can prove a turning point in their lives.

Children easily become victims of loneliness, bullying, social disregard, etc. in their childhood especially when they are in minorities. This leads to the emergence of social exclusion, sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional.

Intentional social exclusion is considered as harmful as it tends to affect the emotions of the children, their cognitive abilities and hence their confidence level. This arises out of temperamental differences, socio-economic status, intergroup exclusion, cyberbullying, spreading rumors, etc.

Unintentional social exclusion may spring up due to physical disabilities or a child’s personal interests which tend to ignore the perspective of other children. Extreme cases of social exclusion may lead to depression and children committing suicides.

Hence, dealing with social exclusion is a topic of concern for society because we know children are unable to control their emotions.

Here are the six important ways which empower your child as well as help him/her deal with social exclusion:

1. Positive Parenting: A child seeks constant attention. It is imperative for parents to stay connected to their child and answer all his queries. Talk to him/her as much as you can, let him/her know about his culture and always encourage him/her to move ahead in life. With this, he/she will get friendly with you and hence, will share everything he/she may be worried about.

Now being a parent, you need to understand the difficulty that your child is going through and give positive parenting tips. Children are innocent, they usually canty decide the next course of action especially when they are submissive and shy. Parents’ advice is the best thing they can look forward to.

2. Social Inclusion in Education: Education can play a pivot role in bringing inclusivity among children. There is a huge Importance of classroom participation. Teachers can encourage participation in a group for class activities to increase the interactions among the ones who never connected. 

Mentors should keep an eye on children especially during their play time and should share all the information with their parents. Mentors should be a go-to person in case any child faces any discrimination.

3. Doctors/Counselors at School Campus: School management should consider the aspect of stress management for kids. Special doctors /counselors should be hired who can understand child psychology and help him cope with the situation. Also, the process of communication should be such that it is easier for the kid to approach the respective counselor.

4. Parent-Teacher-Parent Meeting: Children are most comfortable with their parents and when it comes to expressing, they can’t do it in the early stages of life. At this point, the role of parents again becomes crucial. 

The school can conduct a parent-teacher-parent meeting in which the teacher will act as a mediator between parents of two children and help them discuss and mutually solve their child’s problems. This negotiation can further build good repo among the children as well as parents.

5. Role of Government: Government should also be aggressive about child protection and should look for innovative ways to bring in social inclusivity. Gross Enrollment Ratio Statistics indicate that 75% of the ST children drop out of school before 10^th. The dropout rate for ST/SC girls, tribal girls is even higher, especially in rural areas. 

The government should make it compulsory for schools to conduct special training for children to make them aware of the importance of social inclusion. It should conduct random audits in schools to check if the schools have followed the set of procedures or not.

6. Special Pieces of training: Institutes should plan a curriculum in a way that set a common objective for all children. Media like audiovisuals should be used to make them understand the impact of bullying, why they shouldn’t indulge in such activities and making them aware of the punishment if they are seen exhibiting such behavior. 

Special pieces of training should be conducted by medical experts to sensitize children about certain disabilities which their fellow mates might possess.

Hence, a combined effort of all the stakeholders is necessary to eradicate the issue of social exclusion and bring happiness and innocence back to the child’s life.