An early childhood education association has launched a campaign against body shaming in schools, urging institutions to tackle appearance-based bullying before it leaves lasting emotional scars on children.
The campaign, led by the Early Childhood Association (ECA) and InspireNext Learning Foundation (ILF), has invited schools across the city to create body-positive, inclusive campuses. ECA is an association of pre-primary schools and educators, while ILF supports educational quality through teacher upskilling and school audits.
Body shaming has increasingly become a tool for bullying, threatening children’s mental well-being, the campaign states.
“Children target physical attributes because they are visible and easily weaponised to assert dominance or mask their own insecurities,” the organisers said.
Swati Popat Vats, president of ECA and director of ILF, said there has been a worrying rise in bullying linked to physical appearance, weight and skin tone.
Children often internalise ideas of the “perfect” body shaped by social conditioning, she said.
“Constant exposure to curated, idealised body types on social media and television distorts a child’s perception of normalcy. Desperate to fit into specific social cliques, some children join in mocking others to avoid becoming targets themselves,” Vats said.
She added that a lack of empathy, coupled with children imitating casual
derogatory remarks they hear at home or elsewhere, often escalates into
bullying.
Body shaming cuts across schools and society and can severely damage a child’s self-esteem, the organisers said.
“This generation of children is highly conscious of how they look and present themselves. A negative remark about their appearance can hurt them,” a teacher said.
Vats said the emotional impact of body shaming often outlasts academic achievements. “When a child is shamed for their appearance, the consequences are severe and long-lasting,” she said.
In a letter inviting schools to join the campaign, ECA warned that criticism of a child’s appearance can lead to self-loathing and a distorted body image.
“The constant dread of facing peers causes chronic anxiety, school absenteeism, and a sharp drop in concentration and grades,” it said.
The letter also warns that body shaming can trigger social isolation, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health problems.
“We believe schools are the primary battleground to defeat this menace. By joining the anti-body-shaming campaign, your school commits to fostering a body-positive, inclusive environment through awareness drives, student workshops and zero-tolerance policies against appearance-based bullying,” Vats wrote.