Therefore, every day I wait and listen for the last bell to ring. When the bell rings, I am always disturbed to see a large number of housemaids rushing to classrooms to pick up children and take them to the school courtyard where the maids converse with each other and exchange their phone numbers as well as complaints about their employers while leaving the children to sweat under the scorching sun.
Sometimes, these women bring in food or sweets and force their wards to sell them among their classmates. When I drew attention of the school authorities to this matter the other day, their response was that of helplessness. They have failed in their attempts to force these maids to comply with the school rules and regulations. The school authorities also noted that they have not received any positive response from the mothers when they ask them to come and pick up their children. It would have a positive impact on the children should they meet with their mothers after school instead of the help.
I have seen the difference in the feeling of children when they are received by their mothers or other family members. I do not witness in them such a happy mood when they are received by housemaids.
In cases of any delay in going home due to school programs, school authorities normally contact parents. Most often, housemaids would answer such phone calls. Their reply often would be the father is at work and the mother is sleeping.
It is unfortunate that some mothers are not aware of their responsibilities toward their children. Even after getting up, they never think of returning a phone call to the school. On the other hand, they are always keen to return calls from friends or relatives, especially to work out plans to spend that evening out. They often scornfully ask housemaids, who act as surrogate mothers, about the purpose of the call from the school.
While waiting for my kids and watching the rush of housemaids, I recalled a visit to a well-known school in the capital last year. Accompanying my friend, whose daughter is studying in that school, I was shocked to watch a huge number of maids and nannies, like a beehive full of bees, moving about the school courtyard. I had the impression for a while that we were standing in front of a group of pilgrims coming in our direction during peak Haj hours. I was about to suffocate in the midst of these housemaids, and thought for a while that there is a potential danger in our households.
Also, this sorrowful sight reflects the pitiable position of parents in our society and their failure in carrying out the noble mission that they are supposedly entrusted to do. It seems that their duty is to hand over this responsibility to their maids or drivers as if they were an acceptable alternative to mothers and fathers.
Quite disturbed at waiting in the midst of the invading maid servants, I searched for a secluded place and found a mother standing in the nearby corner. The woman looked at me and said: "Did you notice the small number of mothers present here?"
Her comment saddened me further. I again looked at faces of small children and saw another real mother. The woman, who is working as an ophthalmologist in a hospital in the city, goes out for a few minutes to pick up her kids from the kindergarten. How is it possible for a mother, whether an employee or unemployed, to hand over her small kids to a fake mother to carry out the responsibilities of a mother?
There is no logic and truth in claiming that all mothers are employees. Some mothers cite excuses for getting rid of taking care of their small children, and then have a sound sleep at the time when their kids leave for school in the morning. They should realize the gravity of the situation by taking seriously the outcome of some studies that showed that about 23 percent of children in the Kingdom have been subjected to molestation. The studies also noted that 62 percent of such victims refuse to give details of the culprits, either because of their deep attachment to or fear of them.
Let me quote an incident narrated by a mother. Her son had allegedly been subjected to sexual exploitation by her driver daily for a period of three months. That man worked as the driver of her father for more than 10 years. After her marriage, the driver was shifted to her husband’s house. While returning home from school, the driver used to stop the car daily near a grocery store and buy candies and sweets for the child. While the child was eating them, the man used to molest him.
The driver also allegedly threatened the child not to tell parents about it. The child liked the man because he bought him sweets that her mother always refused to buy.
During vacation, the child began crying and asked for candies. “Bring me sweets and then I will play with you a game of horse as I was playing with the driver,” the child said.
We always warn against exposing our children to such dangers. At the same time, we repeat the danger of sleeping at the time of fulfilling our duties as parents toward our small kids.
