• Understand children’s rights as human rights and create such awareness in the community as well.
• Make children feel it is worthwhile attending your class.
• Be open to learning.
• Be a Friend, Philosopher and Guide to the child.
• Make the classes interesting and informative. Avoid one-way communication and give opportunities to children to come up with their doubts and queries.
• Learn to recognise and identify abuse, neglect, learning disorders and other not so visible disabilities.
• Create a relationship where children can express their views, concerns, anguish, fear etc. Try to engage with children in informal discussions.
• Be a good listener. Share and discuss various issues and problems which children are facing either in school or at home.
• Encourage children’s participation in matters that affect their lives.
• Build children’s capacities to participate effectively.
• Organise meetings of children with school authorities.
• Discuss child rights issues with the parents in the PTA meetings.
• Say NO to corporal punishment. Use positive reinforcement techniques like dialogue and counselling to discipline children.
• Say NO to discrimination. Take active steps to reach out to children from minority and other discriminated groups.
• Stop negative stereotyping and discrimination against working children, street children, child victims of sexual abuse, trafficking, domestic violence or drug abuse and children in conflict with law, to name a few categories of those who need protection.
• Stop use of child labour in your home and workplace.
• Be democratic but not unstructured.
• Ensure children are protected within the school as well as in the community, even if it requires calling the police and taking/facilitating legal action.
• Encourage them to put forward their views before the adults and the community.
• Involve children in organising events. Give them responsibilities and at the same time give them the required guidance.
• Take children to nearby places for picnics and pleasure trips.
• Engage children in discussions/debates/quiz and other recreational activities.
• Encourage education and participation of girls through creative measures within the classroom.
• Follow-up on girls who drop out or attend irregularly to ensure it does not continue.
• All teachers can help in creating and strengthening a protective environment around children.
• Your observations are important, as they alone will help you to assess the growth and progress of a child in your class. If you see a problem, your next step should be to explore what could be the possible reason.
• Next question to yourself should be whether the child is under any pressures from family, relatives or friends.
• Spend some time with the child privately, without being imposing, humiliating and creating an embarrassing situation for the child.
• Help the child express her/his problem either through drawing and painting or by writing a story or simply talking to you or the school counsellor/social worker or to a friend in the class.

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