Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s move to make boys take an oath or pledge that they would not misbehave with girls may superficially please many, but a closer look reveals that you are casting aspersions on the character of boys at an impressionable age.
Bengaluru: Chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has conceived a plan to curb crimes rates against women in the capital.
He said, “(Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia and I have decided that in all government and private schools, we will get all boys to take a pledge that they will never misbehave with a girl."
Not just that, he also added, “We need to build a moral pressure on boys that we will not tolerate bad behaviour. All the girls will also be asked to talk to their brothers, to tell them that he cannot ever misbehave with any girl.”
Well, the intention behind Kejriwal’s move is unquestionable. It is to better the conditions of girls and women in general.
But to a greater question: Does that oath-taking serve its purpose? By making boys take an oath, are the authorities casting aspersions on the character of boys alone and inducing a sense of guilt?
A Sridhara, a psychologist says, “The spirit of the move is infallible. But gender sensitisation is more important. Under the instruction of school authorities, you are straightaway telling the boys that there is something negative in them that is being stymied.”
He further adds, “Taking oath, shaming and creating a sense of guilt in young minds is not the way out. Oath-taking will not help a child in learning gender equality. Inculcate a sense of positive attitudes towards the other gender. By doing so, there will be no sense of domination when it comes to the other opposite gender.”
Others online were also critical of Kejriwal’s move. Some said that this is an attempt to raise suspicion on every boy’s character and the move is only being done to earn some political brownie points.
There were others who wanted Kejriwal to teach girls to not file false cases against women.
The psychiatrist aptly ended the issue thus: “Instead of creating gender sensitisation, they only end up with ‘blunder desensitisation.’
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