THIS WEEK IN CHILDREN FORUM ON RADIO WA:

[OMARA RONNIE]

After the arrest of the Director of Life in King Jesus Promary School
in Amolatar early in August this year and several cases of defilement
still being registered by Police; Radio Wa Children Forum shall draw
participants from Four(4) different primary Shools thus: Two Girls
from Adyel Boarding Primary School and Police primary School, Two Boys
from Ober Primary School and Ambalal Primary School.

This Saturday from 10:00-11:00Hrs, they will be sharing with children
and adults how they (children) feel about defilement and the image
they are always portrayed in after defilement and whether they feel
parents and teachers are doing enough in protecting them and how?

Omara Ronnie
Radio WA 89.8Fm - Lira

[tondosangana]

Hi Ronnie

 

Thanks for sending news of the very interesting talk show you are planning this weekend.

 

It's a challenging topic to handle because of the sensitivities, but it will certainly be powerful to hear the voices of children themselves speaking out about the issue - and especially sharing ideas with adults about what needs to be done to protect young people.

 

Here are some thoughts/ideas/questions, which I hope will be useful for you and other Forum members if you are thinking about dealing with such a topic on your show:

 

Will you speak to the children before the show, so that you build trust with them and they feel comfortable about sharing their views? 

 

As a general comment: I am assuming that none of these children are victims of rape themselves. If they were, it wouldn't be a good idea to include them in such a radio show because you might risk causing them further trauma - and it might even put them at risk of further sexual violence, too.

 

I guess everyone remembers what we said in our training? "First, do no harm!"

 

Sometimes it might be better to pre-record the voices of children, and to play the recordings on your show instead of inviting the kids to speak live on the air, which might be quite stressful for them.

 

A couple of other points:

 

1. Help your guests to focus on practical solutions and suggestions. Ask: why is it difficult for a child in our community to tell someone that she or he has been raped? In our community, do we have a safe place where such children can go for counselling, and where they can report abuse? If not, why not? Does our community stigmatise and blame child victims of rape? Why? How can we change that?

 

2. Focus also on the courage of children who are rape survivors. What does it take for them to recover their lives? What kind of support do they need from family and friends? This is a very powerful quote from someone who was raped when she was a child: “I am a rape survivor, but there is more to ‘survival’ than simply coming out of the attack alive. Survival is a process that molds you into the person that you will become. I am very proud of who I am, and I owe so much of that to my family and friends.”

 

3. When you broadcast a radio show on a sensitive, painful issue like rape it's important to have ready a few telephone contact numbers of organisations that can offer support (for example, to rape victims). It's good to share these contact numbers with your listeners.

 

I'll stop there. What do other Forum members think?

 

Good luck for Saturday! Please tell us what happens.

 

Best regards

Fiona

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Free Children Forum" group.
To post to this group, send email to free-chil...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to free-children-forum+unsub...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/free-children-forum?hl=en.