UNICEF Egypt has launched a Ramadan campaign aimed at reducing physical and psychologial abuse of children in Egypt.
The "Calm not Harm" campaign aims to inform parents of the harm done to children by violent, aggressive or cruel behavior, calling on them to adopt new methods of parenting based around calm and responsible actions.
Launched in cooperation wit the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and supported by the European Union, the campaign aims to ensure that more children are raised in peaceful home environments that lead to good physical and emotional health.
UNICEF and NCCM have been spreading their messages via social meadia, using the hashtag #calm_not_harm.
The official Facebook page of NCCM explains in detail the benefits of a kinder, gentler approach to child-rearing, prioritising affection over aggression: "All of us love our kids, but our way of raising them differs. If you are strict with your child, forcibly imposing your opinion and treated him disrespectfully, he will be hesitant in the future, not trusting his personal opinion, lacking confidence, and he will treat you disrespectfully."
The same page offers practical advice on how to talk with children in a positive way, boosting self-esteem and confidence.
"You should rather open a conversation with him, discussing his opinion, because it will give him the feeling that his opinion is valuable and he'll acquire self-esteem. In the future, your child will have the ability to take a correct decisions because he has the sense of responsibility."
Several videos have been produced to illustrate the message, complete with troubling scenes from home life.
One shows a girl was rebuked by parents, criticized and harshly taking commands from them. In another scene, the same girl is treated peacefully and respectfully, greatly assisting in the healthy development of her personality.
UNICEF states that psychological or emotional violence toward a child can take the form of insults or harsh criticisms, such as calling him a failure or stupid or using curses and insults, whether it in a series or funny conversation.
Moreover, UNICEF states that children also suffer psychological pressure due to violent squabbles between parents and other adults.
"During our campaign this Ramadan, we will find various ways to help us in raising our children properly and maintaining their psychological and physical health," reads the campaign literature.
UNICEF lists various acts of physical violence that can cause harm to children, including pinching the ears, pulling the hair, and beating with sticks or belts. It also points to more extreme methods of physical abuse, such as burning.
In discussing methods of child rearing, UNICEF and NCCM points to various misconceptions passed down from generation to generation. These includes the common feeling among parents that they did not suffer permanent harm from being beaten by their own parents, so why should there be any problem with beating their own children. Such parents are often unaware of the harm that was done to them during their childhoods, and they are simply passing on the pain to a new generation.
Bassant Farouq, psychologist with the NCCM, said the campaign is part of a wider strategy to improve the mental and physical health of Egyptian children by 2030 through various awareness and education programs.
"Some parents complain about their kids' violent behavior, and when asked, I found that they are treating their children violently and beating them and they are sometimes angry at them," she said. "This negative upbringing destroys all the positive aspects of your child's behavior and will increase the negative ones."
The problem of psychological harm done to Egyptian children by their upbringing or unhappy surroundings has caught the headlines before. Late last year, the Egyptian Foundation for Advancement of the Childhood Condition (EFACC) said that at least 44 children committed suicide in Egypt in 2015 for various reasons connected with family, economic and health factors.
The report pointed out that the number of suicide cases surged in the period between June and November 2015, with 22 deaths. The figures showed 52 percent of the cases were male, while 48 percent were female.
The report said that the children aged 16 to 18 represent the largest number of suicide cases, at 25 deaths, while 17 of the cases are children between 11 and 15 years old.
Speaking to Egypt Independent at the time, Hatem Zaher, a psychiatrist and the head of Nour Zyada for Child Psychiatry, said that parents are every child's role model, meaning that many children believe that everything done by their parents is “ideal” behavior.
“I remember a child who sliced his arteries after a fight with his friend because he was watching his dad [who had psychological disorders] hurting his own body whenever he got angry,” Zaher said.
He pointed that the difficult economic situations of some families may lead to something called “displaced aggression”, in which parents cannot express their frustrations towards the source of the problem, such as their boss. As a result, they take their frustrations out on someone weaker, often behaving very aggressively towards family members.
“We can find many parents who have problems in their lives who are very violent with their kids, whether through unjustified verbal abuse or through systematic aggression, which may at times cause the child to prefer death,” Zaher said.
