Girl Child - Status

Whether you are teaching boys or girls, it is important that they discuss the issue of discrimination against girls and women and become aware of their own prejudices. The class can then work at removing these prejudices through fact-finding, observation, discussion, and so on. Some suggested activities: A. Finding out: Ask children to discuss at home and find out the following figures: What is the ratio of boys to girls at birth in India? That is, if 1000 boys are born in a particular time period, how many girls are born at the same time? What is the ratio of men to women in the entire population of India? (For your information: The ratio at birth is 1000 girls to 1000 boys. The ratio in the whole population is 927 females to 1000 males) B. Understanding: Have a discussion in the class on why this ratio changes. (There are many reasons. Help children to arrive at these answers themselves. Let them express their disagreement, and see if the class as a whole can become convinced that these things happen). At birth: Have you noticed many families prefer the birth of a boy child because they feel that their son will look after them in their old age and not their daughters. Hence often little girl babies are abandoned and neglected .In some communities in India they are even killed! This is called female infanticide. The survival of many girl children is threatened because of these practices. Food and Health: It has been observed that baby girls are breast fed less than boys. If there is less food in the family and less money for medicines, it is very likely that the boy will get the best share and the girl will not. Even if she is sick she might not be taken as often to the doctor as her brother. Work: Who does more work at home, in most families ? it is the girl who is made to cook, to do the dishes, clean the floor, fetch water and fuel, look after the younger siblings and many other domestic chores. Early marriage: Many girls are married off very early. Till recently the AVERAGE age of marriage for girls in India was 16.7. That means very many girls are married much earlier than 16. Can you imagine girls getting married at this age and then the burden of looking after a small baby? No wonder they are unhealthy and succumb to illness. Discrimination continues in other ways, even in wealthy families: DOWRY: The girl is given some cash and jewellery at the time of marriage, and most often this then becomes in fact the property of her in-laws. She loses the right to inherit anything from her parents, and she remains without any property of her own. In addition, she may be beaten, tortured, divorced, or even killed, if she is unable to meet further dowry demands. EDUCATION: Did you know that a lot of studies on education have shown that more girls are sent to work and more boys are sent to school? This is because parents feel that their boys need to be educated and not necessarily their daughters (Out of those children in our country who go to school, about 60% are boys and only 40% are girls). This is even less in villages than in cities. And in some states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, as few as 30% girls are in school. But in Kerala the figure is 98%!! C. Trying to change. Divide the children into groups of 4. If the school is co-ed, there should be boys as well as girls in each group. Ask each group to make a list of the things they feel are wrong in the way people around them bring up boys and girls, that lead to further discrimination against girls and insensitivity and selfishness in boys. (Give them some examples to get them started. E.g. boys are never asked to help in the kitchen. Girls are encouraged to give in to their brothers at all times, even younger brothers. Boys are told that crying is 'girlish'. Sometimes girls are discouraged from being very active and noisy. etc.) Ask each group to draw a picture in which a girl is being encouraged or supported in ways that go against the usual pattern of discrimination that we saw in section B above. Put up each group's list and picture on the notice board.