'Let children have a world of their own'

by Malmi Sellahannadi

Sri Lanka has been celebrating the Universal Children's Day for many years.The theme for this year's Universal Children's Day is "let children have a world of their own."

Addressing a media conference Information and Communication Officer Maleec Calyaneratne said, it is appreciated that there is indeed a day dedicated to children. However, most events on this day have been often limited to fulfilling the material needs of children and providing them entertainment for the day.

We of the Save the Children, believe that this day could lay the foundation for the long term personality development of children and therefore to inspire children to use different life skills that they possess.

In a society full of conflicts and violence, it is our finding and strong belief that children do have the wisdom and ability to resolve conflicts within and among themselves, family, school and community.

They have acquired these skills through the socialisation process with family, school and peers. But unless we encourage them, they will lack the confidence to use them appropriately, Maleec said.

Most of these issues which do not surface create a great turmoil inside children and result in violent behaviour and that affects their growth and personality in the long run. What is unfortunate is that we only see the outward violent behaviour and children get judged by this, Sampathee Perera programme expert said.

"We observe a violent trend emerging and escalating in schools. Teachers do intervene to support children to deal with these conflicts; however children do have other related issues that they will not share with teachers, parents or any other adults. Yet, it is possible that they will share these with their peers" Maleec added.

Save the Children in Sri Lanka has planned a media programme which encompasses series of single episode teledramas and 5 songs which are titled "Me Ape Iskole" (This is our School), The teledramas show the struggles that children have in difficult situations and how smart they are in finding solutions when they do possess the required skills.

The teledrama which are written and directed by Prasanna Jayakody, appreciate and inspire the ability and wisdom of children to deal with those situations successfully, while showing that they need the support of children, parents and teachers to get there.

Parallel to this teledrama series, Save the Children has also produced 5 songs for children with positive messages about life.Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and Channel Eye have offered to air these teledramas free at prime time on October 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 at 7.00 pm.