Saturday, 19 June 2021 | Purnima Bisht | Dehradun
Use of children as props by adults for their ulterior motives is child abuse which can have a severe long-term impact on their mental health. Experts expressed this opinion responding to recent activities in which young children seemed to be guided by some adults to fulfill their personal political agendas. It can be observed in some seemingly harmless videos spread on social media that some adults are guiding them to speak or act in a specific way targeting a political party. Besides this, many children are also observed to be used in protests holding placards with slogans on issues they cannot be expected to even understand or be bothered about.
According to experts, children are used in such acts as part of a strategy to extend the reach as part of a specific agenda which can corrupt their minds and hinder their development. “People should not use children for their ulterior motives. It is considered child abuse. Some people use children to gain sympathy or attract the public towards a specific agenda for their personal gain without realising how much damage it causes to children in the long term,” said Dehradun-based neuropsychologist, Dr Sona Kaushal Gupta. According to her, adults should not involve children in activities like making videos to achieve their political motives because such manipulative use of children would make it difficult for them to have their own opinion later on in their life.
Psychotherapist Aditi Arora also believes that children should be left to have their own opinion as they grow because there is an age for everything. “No one below 18 years of age is allowed to vote then why should young children be involved in such political agendas through manipulation. Such adults should ask themselves, how such activities are contributing to children’s development? There is no psychological, intellectual or emotional growth of a child by participating in such acts,” stated Arora. According to her, the responsible authorities should take action against such involvement of children.
Meanwhile talking about the issue, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Usha Negi said that the manipulative use of children to attain political gains is a transgressive thing. According to her, children should be aware of what is going on around them but there is an age for everything. She stated that it is understandable to involve children in activities that talk about issues associated with them but involving them in such subjects that they are too young to understand properly is wrong. “We recently visited children living in slum areas and interacted with them on the issue of substance abuse. It is definitely a sensitive issue but we have to talk to them about it because these were the children who either used drugs or were getting used to peddle drugs.
The point is, it is fine to involve children in activities that can help them but manipulating them for personal benefits is outrageous,” said Negi. She said that the SCPCR would certainly take action against such acts on receiving complaints on the matter.
