Teenage police wing to address issues faced by Faridabad teenagers

Faridabad Police has set up a teenage police Wing to help students report abuse, harassment, stress related issues, bullying along with other issues, which they

Faridabad Police has set up a teenage police Wing to help students report abuse, harassment, stress related issues, bullying along with other issues, which they cannot discuss with their family members and friends.

HT Image

Police officers said that the teenage police wing, which commenced operations on Wednesday, is headed by an assistant commissioner of police ranked officer and comprises 11 officials of the district, apart from four councillors. The special police wing will pay special focus to teenagers between the age of 13 and 19 and help them deal with various issues and the menace of cyber bullying.

Police said they will soon launch a helpline number for the special wing, which will be widely advertised in schools and colleges and on social media platforms.

“Teenagers sometimes do not reach out to their friends and family members to discuss their trauma and end up slipping into depression. We decided to launch this wing to help such distressed teenagers and to help their parents overcome such situations,” said OP Singh, who took over as the commissioner of Faridabad police on July 1.

Police said they receive many complaints related to cyber crime — cases of teenagers sending or receive obscene messages or videos from fake accounts that threaten them of dire consequences if reported. “The wing will also help students understand the right use of social media and how to create a balance between studies and usage of social media so that they are not addicted to it,” said Singh.

“The special wing will also run a helpline with the help of NGOs active in this field for the parents and teenage victims of bullying, harassment, and allurement to addiction,” he said.

Singh added that the initiative will also spread awareness among teenagers to reach out to their close ones and to express what has been bothering or troubling them instead of harming themselves. The wing will work in close coordination with school authorities, parents associations, and NGOs active in the area dealing with teenage problems.

“We will create an interactive platform of school head boys and head girls and sports team captains. They will host listening sessions through web-conferences and face-to-face interactions to understand the problems the victims and their peers are facing, seek their suggestions in how best to deal with them and based on that it will formulate an appropriate and effective response to identified problems,” said Singh. Police said the helpline number will be operational round-the-lock once launched.

The special wing will also keep a close watch on social media platforms — like Instagram and Snapchat —that are popular among teenagers to educate them about possible victimisation and encourage them to take steps to avoid falling in a trap.

Police said the wing will also utilise the platform of Parents-Teacher meetings to sensitise parents and teachers about the steps they need to take to save their children from potential harm.