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Environmental
education and Communication Program for children in
villages,Madurai, India (1994-1997)
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Protection of
environment has posed not only a major challenge but also a
social and moral responsibility in the present society. In
recent times, the subject of environment has interested the
general public and caught the attention and enthusiasm of
children in particular. The Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development (1992) adopted by the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development affirms that children are an
indispensable component in achieving sustainable development. In
addition, one chapter in Agenda 21 is solely devoted to children
and youth in sustainable development and portrays the special
role that they can play in this process, while other chapters
recognize the conditions of extreme poverty in which children
live and the perpetual state of hunger the many suffer as a
consequence of environment degradation.
Obviously enough, there is an increasing evidence in support of
the crucial role that children can and must play in
environmental protection through their participation and also
developing of appropriate mechanisms that protect the children’s
rights to a decent environment. The term environment refers to
circumstances surrounding children, especially the combinations
of external physical conditions, which affect and influence the
growth, development and survival of children and the complex of
social conditions affecting the nature of children and the
community in which they live. The UN Convention on the rights of
child (1989).
Globalization is linked with the children’s rights as evidenced
in the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child
1989, which proclaims the following child rights relating to
environment to be protected and promoted by the State parties.
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Article: 6-Right to life, Article: 12-Right to
express views, Article: 13-Freedom of expression,
including freedom to seek, receive and impart
information, Article: 15-Freedom of association,
perhaps in relation to formation of environmental
groups, Article: 16- Privacy, Article: 17-Access to
information including national and international
sources, especially material aimed at promotion of
the child’s physical and mental health, Article: 24-
Right of the child to the enjoyment of highest
attainable standard of health, Article: 27-Right of
every child to a standard of living adequate for the
child’s development, Article: 28 & 29 -Education,
Article: 31-Right of the child to rest and leisure
and to engage in play and recreational activities. |
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Knowing the importance of promoting the environmental rights
among children and providing opportunity for them to
effectively participate in practice-based learning
experiences, the Goodwill social work centre, a
non-governmental organization involved in child development
and research in Madurai, India undertook a ‘Media
interventions in children’s environmental rights education’
as part of the comprehensive ‘Environmental education and
communication program for children in villages, Madurai and
Kamaraj Districts,Tamilnadu, South India. The programmes
were designed as an intervention -oriented research within
the framework of quasi-experimental.
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1. |
To inculcate knowledge in
rural children the ecological traditions of the local
community and to develop a sense of ecological wisdom among
them in villages as to the means of conserving natural
resources. |
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2. |
To create participatory
training for children to learn about the principles of
children’s rights in the environment, explore their
environmental rights and identify their environmental needs
and issues. |
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3. |
To promote children’s access
to environmental media to arouse natural curiosity and
develop a thirst for new knowledge in the area of
environment. |
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4. |
To prepare children to share
environment information with others on a child-to-child and
child-to-community.
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Geographical area and location of the project:
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In the
first phase (1994-1995), the project was implemented in ten
villages in the Narikudi village panchayat block, Kamarajar
district, Tamilnadu, South India under the aegis of the
International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.
In the second phase(1996—1997) , the project was replicated
in Therkutheru Villages, Madurai East Village panchayat
union block, Madurai district, Tamilnadu, South India,
funded by US based DuPont South Asia Limited, Madurai under
Safety Health and Environment (SHE) award. The participants
included 300 children in the 8-16 years of age were
selected. Of 300 children, 158 were males and the remainder
(142) were females. During the second phase, 157 children
comprising males and females in the 10-16 years of age were
selected.
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Programme
components included:
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1. |
Environmental education |
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2. |
Participatory training in eco-action programmes |
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3. |
Media interventions (traditional and modern methods) |
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4. |
Field study and exposure visits.
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As part of
the project, the Goodwill Social Work Centre organized a
variety of environmental action programs for the children
with a view to providing them with opportunities and
benefits to participate and to share environmental
information with others on a child to child and to community
basis namely a. Bio-diversity conservation contests for
children b.Animal welfare education and communication c.
Nursery raising d. Tree planting e.Formation of Eco-Media
Clubs f. Green Rallies g. Poster Exhibitions h.
Environmental awareness contests i. Learn of the environment
j. Inter village children’s sports meets and k. Free medical
check ups for children and their families.
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Outcomes:
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1. |
Being an innovative
intervention action program for the children in villages,
the responses and the level of participation of all children
in the programme were more encouraging and invigorating at
every stage. In addition to the surveyed respondents, more
children showed enthusiasm to participate in the program.
Obviously enough, there is a imperative need for organizing
similar programs for children in the rural areas in villages
in India and other developing countries, which will
certainly benefit them for the present and the future. |
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2. |
Longitudinal studies on media
interventions in environmental rights education programme
for children are highly recommended for greater impact on
them. Such programs undertaken for children on a fairly
longer period will certainly prove to be productively useful
and meaningful to them. |
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It is highly recommended that
this action research may be replicated and implemented in
every village in the rural areas. There is a need to focus
on future research in this direction. Further, specially
designed environmental rights education may be organized for
urban children particularly in slums and backward areas. |
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4. |
Studies on environmental
health for rural children and children’s rights and
sustainable development, combining research as a major
intervention in these programs could be attempted. |
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5. |
In line with the methods design adopted in the present
research, studies on girls and young women’s participation
in environmental rights and communication in villages is
suggested. |
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6. |
Communication application in
promoting environmental rights among children should be
promoted and a variety of media could be used in making the
program truly effective and enriching for the children. |
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7. |
It is essential that school teachers, informal youth leaders
and volunteers in villages should be sensitized to the
environmental rights of children and trained on
communication applications for promoting environment related
rights among the school and non-school children.
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8. |
Most importantly, greening the young minds of children
through promoting digital opportunities to have access to on
line communication and information on environmental issues
and threats affecting their lives and their environmental
rights and needs in villages in India is an urgent need for
the present and future generation. |
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It is an
undeniable fact that children have a vital role to play in
environmental protection and they have a right to decent
environment it is our responsibility to recognize their
environmental rights and identify them as future
environmental managers as participants in sharing the
world’s resources. They should be given genuine
opportunities to live in pleasant and healthy surroundings.
In the words of Paula. M. Pevato “children cannot look
forward to inheriting a safe and healthy environment unless
their elders set an example by cooperating so that the
essence and spirit of sustainable development can be
achieved and that ultimately the world’s youth can look
forward to better future. Until that time, successful
integration of children’s perspectives in environmental
protection and the realization of a child’s emerging right
to a decent environment remain doubtful.” LET EVERY
CHILDHOOD LAST A LIFETIME IN A GLOBALISING WORLD |
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