It all boils down to our system and parenting, says Hadiqa Kiani on the Scarsdale incident
A bullying incident at Scarsdale International School has left netizens horrified and enraged at the gang-up against one girl and the videotaping of the alleged “torture”. Singer-actor Hadiqa Kiani expressed her views on the matter, shedding light on the role of parents in the propagation of violence. She urged parents to get involved in their children’s lives and the government and educators to implement a stricter protocol to protect children.
On Saturday, she shared a tweet thread to address and “unpack” the issue. “Parenting, mental health, drugs and alcohol, abuse, school surveillance, safety, elitism, power, trauma and so much more,” she started by highlighting the key words in the incident. Mentioning that there are many factors that lead to our society raising and protecting criminals while silencing victims, she said her heart breaks at the Scarsdale school incident.
She made the connection between parenting and the cycle of violence claiming that most parents are “delusional and voluntarily ignorant” about their children’s lives. According to her, this lack of involvement unknowingly causes severe trauma in children which manifests in the way they deal with others, “in more extreme ways”.
She directed attention to all the bullying incidents that go un-filmed and unnoticed, saying that there needs to be a stop to this. Turning to parents she said, “Talk to your children, get involved and parent them with love — protect your kids and make them strong to handle the world.”
Kiani does not think the responsibility is solely the parents’. She talked about the role the government and educators play and urged them to come together to put in place a stricter protocol to protect children. “I wish I had more concise thoughts at this time and will hopefully speak more on this issue soon but it all boils down to our system and parenting,” she concluded.
The Defence police, Lahore have lodged a criminal case against four girl students of the private school for allegedly torturing their class fellow after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The FIR was registered on the complaint of the victim’s father Imran Younis, who alleged that the group of girls dragged his daughter on the ground by her hair, sat on her back and subjected her to inhuman torture.
