A booming prison nursery is one among the countless initiatives started by the Telangana State prisons in the recent years. Programs within penitentiaries extending to the care of children whose mothers are incarcerated is rare across other prisons in the country.
Basheera Begum, the Superintendent of Special Prison for Women said, “Currently there are six children who attend the local English medium school. The younger children attend a small care centre that teaches them the basics like ABCs and where other elementary and nursery activities are conducted. Apart from housing the children in special mother-child cells to encourage the motherly bonding which is known to positively impact the growing and upbringing of children, there are also other programs aimed at the educational aspect of a child’s well being.”
Children below the age of three years in the state prison here attend a prison run day care centre filled with numerous activities to enhance their cognitive development at an early age. In addition, children below six years are sent to an English medium school outside the prison to begin their formal education. A prison personnel is assigned as an escort to transport them from the prison to their schools on a daily basis.
Speaking about the short-term and long-term impact on children of growing up without parents, Dr Purnima Nagaraja said, “In the short-term, parental separation leaves children struggling emotionally. Anger and sadness are normal, regardless of your child’s age, even if they are adults. Sadness can lead to isolation, loneliness, and social difficulties. Children may also under perform academically as a result of their parent's absence. Anger can also be seen as children grapple with feelings of abandonment, guilt, worry or blame towards another parent.”
She said, “Another important short-term challenge is that children often believe they are responsible for their parent’s separation. They are particularly vulnerable to these kinds of thoughts between the ages of three and eight.”
“Coming to the long-term impact, it leaves an enduring legacy in the lives of children. The ones from broken homes are more likely to experience higher incidence of drug use, criminality, broken marriages in their own lives and depression. On every well-being indicator, kids who come from broken families do worse, in general, than children from intact, functioning families. Ongoing parental conflict has substantial impact on children's long-term outcomes. No matter what happens, separation and divorce will have a negative impact on your children, but the longer the conflict lasts, the greater the impact is,” she concluded.
