The Kerala government will include awareness programmes and lessons against body shaming as a part of the education curriculum, State General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Monday.
State education minister V Sivankutty said body shaming is a heinous act and some victims have lost sanity due to this. He said many use shaming comments in loving and friendly manner but they are not aware of its ill-effects. “No matter what the explanation is, body shaming phrases are worst,” he said in a Facebook post.
The minister said recently someone commented on his photo asking him to reduce his tummy. “This happens in our society at various levels, though it is said in a loving and sweet manner. I replied body shaming is a heinous act. There are many of us who have lost sanity being victims of body shaming,” he said adding that a healthy discussion is needed on this and the government will raise enough awareness and try to include this in school curriculum. “We should end this. Let us be modern,” he said in the post.
The minister also shared the experience of his friend's brother, a school student, who had to face discrimination due to his colour. The boy later complained to the teachers after which the other students turned against him, the minister wrote. He said that the boy had to change schools and suffered a lot of trauma. "I repeat, we should end body shaming. Let's be modern people," the minister said.
“We can discuss how such awareness can be made part of the curriculum. Let us also discuss how to deal with such situations during teachers’ training programmes,” he said adding the government will take it up seriously.
