The present trend of sharing photos and videos on social media of children, who are physically challenged, orphans or disadvantaged, by revealing their identities for the purpose of seeking help has been truly unfortunate, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Thoubal stated Wednesday.
Such irresponsible acts not only cause the child to face many inconveniences and issues later in life but can further lead to depression and mental issues, stated CWC, Thoubal, chairperson L Romen Meitei in a release.
Emphasizing that parents must never force their children to work at business centres, workshops, shops, street vendors, Romen stated.
The CWC Thoubal chairperson also appealed to the public not to take video recordings of a child narrating the sad tale, ridiculing or mocking the child’s situation with unfavourable languages, it added.
It further stated that the government has established many institutions to help these children through the right channel. To name a few, the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), Childline, Child Welfare Committee, Juvenile Police Station, Children Home/Open Shelter Home, Observation Home and Children Home for Mentally Ill have been established for each district, it added.
Instead of revealing the children’s identities with video footage which is an illegal act, CWC, Thoubal appeals to the public to visit these places or make contact to help a child in the right way, it stated.
Those who are knowingly or unknowingly uploading video footages and drawing government’s attention by using unfavourable languages towards those children may face legal action, the CWC said and appealed to immediately take down such videos from WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram etc, it added.
