Catalog

CPArts has included children as one of its target groups in its service to society through art and culture. More especially, the children below the poverty line who have no opportunity to display or develop their talents, rural children who have not been exposed to the benefits of co-existence among communities due to the distorted media reporting, and the deprived children of the backward plantation sector have all been brought into the focus of CPArts mission. Other factors taken into consideration by CPArts in this regard are:

Unifying children living in all parts of the country through the arts. In this way, they will be helped to rise above ethnic and religious barriers and develop a new mentality as children of Mother Lanka under one bannerPreventing marginalization and under- estimation of children in their families, schools and communities and rectifying the inferiority complex that may arise in them due to these factors, so that they may take their rightful place as accepted members of society.

There is at present a trend for parents to leave their children behind and go abroad for employment. This is mainly due to poverty. Such children are denied parental love and affection as well as other social needs. This leads to frustration as well as disruption to their education. Resultantly, some of these children go to work at an early age and are drawn into social vices and are thereafter in a dilemma as to how to re-shape their future. There is a great need therefore to save children from this unfortunate situation and give them care and support as well as take positive steps to remove their frustration.

When children’s rights are denied or violated and their feelings are not respected they may develop violent tendencies in older age. Therefore it is essential to channel their talents into productive ways and enlighten them about rights and duties. Creating social awareness about these matters is also equally important.

As children are our future hope, they should be given the values of religion, language, cultural and ethnic identities. This will lay the foundation for them to develop into peaceful citizens with a high degree of social consciousness.