Jordan festival aims to curb violence against children

An interactive festival has been engaging families across Jordan as part of a national campaign to promote positive child-rearing approaches and curb physical violence against children.

Jordan's National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) and the UN children's fund (UNICEF) on September 18th launched "The Adventures of Looney Balloony" festival in Amman, with Jordan's Queen Rania in attendance.

The festival, also held in Irbid and Zarqa, sought to raise awareness about positive dialogue and child-rearing approaches. It will be held in Aqaba on October 12th and 13th.

Eight cartoon characters were used to introduce children, their parents, and caregivers to the tools and skills needed for healthy child development.

Each character represents a positive skill that parents can use in raising their children, such as communicating, practicing patience, showing love, listening, encouraging, serving as a role model and understanding child development.

Activism at all levels

"One of the campaign’s most important objectives is to dial up the commitment and activism on the national and local levels to prohibit all forms of violence against children," said Mohammed al-Miqdadi, NCFA acting secretary-general.

The campaign aims to promote non-violence, raise awareness and develop the capabilities of all those who work with and for children, he told Al-Mashareq.

The campaign also seeks to "provide treatment and social rehabilitation services, develop reporting services and systems that are child-friendly and can be easily used by children", he said.

This will help to ensure accountability and put an end to impunity for crimes against children, he said.

The festival is part of a "three-year multi-sectoral national strategy aimed at decreasing the prevalence of physical violence against children in Jordan by half, by the year 2021", al-Miqdadi said in a statement.

Studies have shown that nine out of 10 children in Jordan experience some form of physical violence from parents, teachers or caregivers.

Studies conducted in Jordan show that "52% of children receive minor punishment, 34% receive moderate punishment from parents, and 70% of children are subjected to verbal abuse by parents", al-Miqdadi said.

Some also suffer punishment at the hands of siblings, relatives and other children who share the same place of residence, he noted, stressing the need to raising awareness about this issue to "protect children and defend their rights".

'Societal necessity'

Sociology professor Hussein al-Khuzaie stressed the need to educate the community, especially new parents, on the effects of violence against children.

"Punishing a child with any form of violence leaves devastating psychological scars and is in some cases disastrous," he told Al-Mashareq.

The responsibility of protecting children falls to society as a whole, "starting with parents, school and the family", he said, adding that efforts to raise awareness must continue.

Mother of four Ayat Hammouda told Al-Mashareq that her daughter was subjected to verbal abuse by a teacher at a public school in the Tabarbour area of Amman.

"After a teacher recently cursed at my daughter Layla, who is in third grade, she no longer wanted to go to school and has developed a fear of school," Hammouda said. "I worked with my daughter until she overcame the problem, but it did have an adverse effect on her."

"Sometimes we get angry at the actions of our children and we yell at them, which is wrong," she said.

Schools must pay attention to this issue, Hammouda said, adding that children must be protected from any kind of abuse.

To this end, the national campaign to combat violence against children is an "essential and important endeavor", she added.