Children's example should be emulated
When it comes to combating the scourge of child marriage, we do not usually envision the fight being fought by school children themselves, and that too happening at a remote char land like the Char Sinduma on the banks of the Teesta River in Hatibandha upazila. There, a group of 25 schoolgirls (Grades 7-10) took it upon themselves to form an association that would go door to door to spread the message that child marriage is bad for children and that getting an education is just as important for a girl as it is for a boy. A report in this newspaper on December 27 tells us of their extraordinary tale. That these children chose to do something so unheard of and manage to get the ear of parents in this remote and backward area is testament to what can be done by children where we adults have failed to do.
Changing attitudes is perhaps the most difficult of tasks anywhere in the world. It is especially hard in communities that suffer from longstanding poverty and where social customs dictate for children to be married off at an early age. The Teesta Shishu Dal (TSD) is part of a larger platform funded by Plan International Bangladesh. These girls are conducting the campaign and attitudes are slowly beginning to change in the community. Although three girls of the TSD were secretly married off by their parents, incidences of child marriage have begun to decrease in Char Sinduma.
Though child marriage is illegal, the practice is widely prevalent in rural areas, particularly areas that are remote like the char lands. What TSD has shown us is that change must be initiated from within the community and age-old attitudes can be changed gradually. This is certainly a practice that can and should be replicated on a bigger scale to help fight child marriage nationwide.
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