Voices of Children’s, Social Security and Well-Being in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan

Children’s well-being is measured with various indicators like well becoming and welfare in education, health, and provision of basic necessities of life. This articles focuses on the children’s voices regarding their social security and being safe in uncertain situations. Perspective of the children’s well-being is analyzed in this paper. A 30 children from the age of 8-12 years of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan participated in this research. The data was collected with the help of interview guide. These children drew maps and pictures to reflect their feelings. The findings of the study revealed that children were concerned about their social security and welfare. In the children’s perspective, family is responsible to secure social, emotional and economic welfare. Children need money to fulfillment of the basic necessities of life and provide shelter and secure them from any threat but with the consent of the children. However, they mentioned that their consent is not counted. They also showed resilience to the corrective control of their guardians. Meanwhile, some of the children voices were also in favor of the strict control on the children and they justified parents’ authority. They want freedom in action and speech whereas its mere absence makes them sad. Children mentioned that they feel safe in the presence of people like parents, friends, siblings, teachers and security guards. They wanted to be master of their personal welfare and security. Nevertheless, the children were in favor of independence of agency and they wanted to get freedom from the structural control.