Select Category
Select Project

Our Responsibility to Children (ORC)

The ORC (Our Responsibility to Children) program is a school-based initiative aimed at enhancing the mental well-being of children by involving their entire ecosystem, including their school, home, and community. The program's goal is to detect and address areas of weakness, nurture and develop strengths, and create a supportive and encouraging environment both at school and at home. Specifically targeted at children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 17, ORC is a comprehensive approach to promoting positive mental health.

Mission

The ORC program has a scientific approach to identifying and addressing deviations and vulnerabilities in children by enhancing their life skills, nurturing their strengths, addressing potential risks, and promoting mentoring and good parenting. With a pre-emptive dimension, ORC aims to provide care and protection to children who are facing various behavioral, emotional, learning, social, and other mental health issues, using a school-oriented approach. Currently, the project is operational in 50 selected government schools throughout Puducherry.

The primary objective of ORC is to establish a model that demonstrates how early identification, timely intervention, and the right approach to children’s problems can gradually create a supportive environment that fosters positive, growth-oriented, confident attitudes in children and youth. By steering them away from harmful addictions and deviant behavior, the model also advocates for active involvement from every stakeholder in the process, including families, schools, and the community.

Overall, the ORC program seeks to create a safe, nurturing, and equitable environment where vulnerable children involved in, or at risk of, destructive behavior can be reintegrated into mainstream society. By equipping and empowering them with life skills, appropriate support, and knowledge, the program aims to help them realize their full potential and become productive members of society.

Activities

Partners

Background

Research suggests that rapid socio-economic changes in society are creating vulnerabilities in children and youth, resulting in a steep rise in delinquency among adolescents. Issues such as substance abuse and suicide are becoming increasingly prevalent in this group. India, which has the world’s highest suicide rate among youth aged between 15 and 29 years, also reports that 20 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 are victims of substance abuse. In 2014, the NCRB reported a disturbing 47% increase in juvenile crime. Additionally, in 2016, up to 1 billion girls and boys experienced some form of violence or harmful practice, including sexual violence (UNICEF, 2018).

Furthermore, the COVID pandemic has added unprecedented mental stress and trauma to the entire world, with direct and indirect impacts on both adults and children, many of which may manifest gradually.

It is imperative to invest focused attention and resources to channelize the energies of children towards positive growth, especially during the first two decades of their lives, in order to reverse the rapidly deteriorating juvenile scenario.

Our Supporters

Directorate of School Education
Mission Better Tomorrow

Contact

Phone: 0413-2332232

Join us in our Initiatives

If you have an innovative idea for bringing a positive change in Puducherry, join hands by sharing it with us in driving Puducherry to become a model Union Territory.

Become a Contributor