Knowing the atmosphere and being aware about the people around oneself is important for everyone, especially for children below the age group of 18 years. Self-awareness is an essential part of education that makes children aware of good and bad things around them, and gives them the ability to take decisions and become responsible for their own safety at school or elsewhere.

To familiarize students with the value and need of self-awareness in and around school, Global Indian International School (GIIS), Noida conducted a series of events that aimed at overall safety and well-being of children. A total of 3 events were conducted in the following order:

1. Fire Safety Drill by the Noida Fire Department
2. Road Traffic Safety session by Ms. Charu
3. Mom and me session by Dr. Shalini Aggarwal

1. Fire Safety Drill session

To acquaint students with the information and action points to be taken in case of a fire breakout, Fire Safety Deptt. of Noida conducted a mock fire drill session in the amphitheatre. Under the presence of fire safety staff, Principal-Ms. Vandana Midha, Academic Coordinator-Ms. Manisha Bhagee, and school teachers, a live demonstration on safety tips was conducted to educate students on fire safety. They were engaged in practical knowledge learning experience where each one of them were made to understand the importance of their own safety through examples. Practical use of fire extinguishers in severe situations was demonstrated along with the list of dos and don’ts to be followed during fire break outs.

People often get panic and lose their ability to think under such circumstances, and fail to act the right way which in turn causes a lot of harm to property and lives. Through this session, our students understood that being alert under such situations can save them from many mishappenings and misfortunes.

2. Road Traffic Safety session

As a part of the society welfare and social awareness campaign, a session on road traffic safety was conducted for the students. Around 150-200 students were a part of the awareness drive conducted by Ms. Charu Asthana - Representative, Eye Level India.

To spread awareness on the benefits and importance of wearing seat belts and following traffic rules, few animated videos were shown to educate students about various traffic and safety rules to be observed while driving. Students were thrilled to watch animated videos shown to them as they helped them engage and grasp the importance of traffic safety at once.

Moving forward with the session, Ms. Charu advised students to keep a check on the speed of the vehicle and wear seat belts always. She also laid emphasis on being with elders while crossing or walking on road.

3. Mom and Me session

Adolescence is quite an awkward time for girls as a lot of physical and hormonal changes happen during puberty. Not only girls but even the parents go through difficult times explaining and handling issues their young daughters face while growing up.

To educate girls from grades 6-10 along with their mothers, an interactive session on Female Health and Hygiene was also conducted. Dr. Shikha Agarwal-a renowned gynaecologist conducted the session where she talked about various health and hygiene issues/problems females face during their reproductive life.

She also took up topics like sexual abuse and exploitation (indicators and measures), deficiency of essential nutrients, etc. that can become a huge cry fare if not handled in time properly.

The reason for inviting mothers was to make them understand the stress level and anxieties their daughters face during puberty, and bring out the growing issues today’s children face in their day to day lives. The objective was to make mothers emotionally and mentally more supportive towards their daughters.

It was an endeavour to educate children, inculcate values and generate social awareness through a series of awareness campaigns conducted under the ‘PRAYAS PROJECT’. A part of the project has already been conducted with the visit to the ‘Shankara School’ for children with special needs on 5thAugust, 2017 by grade I & II.