There’s something undeniably magical about children — their laughter, boundless curiosity, and the way their innocent questions leave adults speechless. Yet, behind many of those bright smiles lies an uncomfortable truth we try to avoid: children often lack the language, tools, or safety they need to express their emotions or protect themselves from harm.
For Dr Kanika Sharma (43), this realisation struck during an ordinary conversation with her four-year-old son. When she asked him what he had learned at school, he replied casually, “Good touch, bad touch,” and ran off to play.
The brief exchange left her uneasy.
What had he been taught? Was it enough? Did it provide him with the skills to navigate real-world situations?
That moment stayed with Kanika, prompting deeper reflection — and ultimately shaping a groundbreaking initiative in child safety and mental well-being. By 2021, her concern for her son and every child had evolved into ‘Hapchi’ — a structured life-skills and safety education system that today reaches thousands of children across India.
“Hapchi means ‘happy children’,” Kanika tells The Better India. “At its core, our mission is simple: to make children happy and safe.”
A personal journey, a greater purpose
Kanika’s journey to founding Hapchi began long before she ever imagined herself as an entrepreneur.
Growing up in a conservative family in Faridabad, her life had a predetermined path: she would become a doctor, as her father wished. Dutifully, she pursued medicine, eventually transitioning into healthcare management, where she spent six years building a successful career.
In HapSafe sessions, children aren’t just told what is unsafe — they are taught how to respond, reflect, and seek support.
But a shift occurred when Kanika became a mother. Having grown up in a joint family of nearly 30 relatives, she had always been involved in raising children, starting from the age of 11, taking care of younger cousins. While motherhood came naturally to her, it also reignited her desire to make a larger impact.
“I loved being a mother, but I always felt a gap, a restlessness to do more and contribute beyond my own home,” she shares.
It was during this time that Kanika began exploring how child safety was addressed in India.
To her dismay, education on this topic often focused narrowly on child sexual abuse, with workshops delivered in ways that lacked cultural relevance, age-appropriate language, or long-term value. Safety conversations were generally reduced to warnings about physical dangers: don’t touch sharp objects, don’t play near water, and don’t run on the road.
“Body safety barely existed in the dialogue,” Kanika recalls.
Even terms like “good touch” and “bad touch” felt insufficient and outdated for empowering children. This gap in education and awareness motivated her to take action, beginning with writing a series of children’s books aimed at fostering awareness in a child-friendly, meaningful way.
Titles like Be Smart Be Safe, Coco’s Feelings, and It’s Time to Voice My Choice were small steps toward a much larger mission.
Yet, even after years of conducting workshops, Kanika realised awareness wasn’t enough. One-off sessions were simply not creating lasting change. To truly safeguard children, the approach had to change. Schools needed a structured system, parents needed training, and safety had to be embedded in education; not treated as an afterthought.
The leap that started Hapchi
In 2020, during the pandemic, Kanika took a bold step. She applied to the Women Startup Program at NSRCEL in IIM Bangalore, a decision that would transform her vision into reality. By 2021, Hapchi was born, a specialised organisation focused on child safety, life skills, and mental well-being, dedicated to safeguarding children and empowering schools. Unlike one-time awareness workshops, the model integrates year-long school programmes with digital tools and measurable reporting, turning child safety education into a structured and trackable system.
By breaking complex topics into age-appropriate discussions, classrooms become safer spaces for children to open up without hesitation.
Kanika faced resistance initially. Many schools were reluctant to host discussions around topics like body safety, emotional resilience, and bullying. Workshops, if approved, were often symbolic and left Kanika questioning what children gained from them.
“What will children remember after my workshop? Nothing,” she thought. She realised that real, meaningful change required consistency and involvement; not just from children, but from educators and parents as well.
This belief laid the foundation for HapSafe, Hapchi’s flagship programme.
Designed as a long-term, age-progressive curriculum for Grades 1 to 12, HapSafe covers critical areas such as abuse prevention, emotional resilience, online safety, bullying prevention, peer pressure, mental health, adolescent education, inclusivity, and body autonomy. Moving beyond one-time awareness, it equips students, parents, and educators with practical, actionable skills they can apply and carry forward at every stage.
Transforming schools: What HapSafe looks like in action
At New Horizon Gurukul, one of Hapchi’s partner schools, the programme has had a profound impact. Jasmine Padda (33), a school counsellor, describes how HapSafe transformed their approach to student well-being.
“What Hapchi helped us do was break it down one criterion at a time or one topic at a time,” she says. “Instead of doing everything together in a big group, it was done class-wise, and children opened up much better.”
The shift was especially visible around body safety and emotional awareness. “Children were more open about talking about these topics,” she shares. “They would come and ask whether a touch should be considered safe or how they should respond.”
For the counselling team, the continuity mattered. “It kind of filled in the gaps for me,” Jasmine adds. “The reports helped us understand what support children needed even after the sessions were over.”
From the leadership’s perspective, the impact went beyond awareness. “From the very beginning, child safety has been central to our school’s philosophy,” says Lakshmi Prakash (46), the school principal of MS Dhoni Global School. “When children feel physically and emotionally safe, meaningful learning naturally follows.”
While parents initially had concerns, transparency and counsellor involvement helped address them.
“Parents have observed a noticeable shift, with students becoming more emotionally aware and empowered,” Lakshmi says. “The sessions have positively influenced the overall school culture by encouraging openness, empathy, and self-reflection.”
Beyond increased awareness, the impact is visible in how children respond to their emotions and each other. Kanika shares how in one HapSafe session, a previously withdrawn Class 6 student learned to name her feelings and focus on what she could control.
With regular follow-ups, she began expressing herself, building friendships, and eventually emerged as a confident student who now participates actively in class.
Beyond awareness, these sessions equip children with real-life tools — from handling peer pressure to navigating uncomfortable situations.
In another instance, a seven-year-old struggling with emotional outbursts learnt a simple breathing technique — “smell the cake, blow the candle”. What started as a playful exercise soon became a coping tool he used at home and in school, even guiding classmates through it during moments of stress.
Such moments reflect how HapSafe strengthens school culture by encouraging openness, empathy, and self-reflection while giving children practical tools they carry beyond the classroom.
Beyond the classroom: HapSmart expands the vision
For Kanika, HapSafe was only part of the solution. The larger question remained: how do you ensure continuity beyond the classroom?
That led to HapSmart, launched in 2025, a child safety and well-being SaaS platform designed to integrate with schools. Unlike typical edtech or counselling apps that focus on academic performance or reactive support, HapSmart takes a prevention-led approach to safety, resilience, emotional well-being, and real-life life skills. The platform also includes a chatbot called HapBuddy, which offers research-backed, age-appropriate guidance to students and parents, while built-in safety alerts can flag potential risks so schools and families can respond early.
Simple exercises are turning into lifelong coping tools, helping children regulate emotions both at school and at home.
It offers personalised student reports, school-level impact and risk insights, an expert-curated content library for students and parents, and Gen-AI chatbot support for real-time guidance. Hapchi also focuses on capacity building through educator training programmes and parenting masterclasses.
Together, HapSafe and HapSmart address themes ranging from bullying prevention and safe boundaries to digital well-being, online safety, mental health, and adolescent life skills — embedding safety education into everyday life.
Changing lives, one child at a time
Since its inception, Hapchi has partnered with over 60 institutions, reaching more than 60,000 students, 10,000 parents, and 5,000 educators.
In the 2025–26 academic year alone, Hapchi collaborated with 17 schools, reaching more than 13,000 students through nearly 2,500 sessions. The organisation also trained over 600 educators and oriented more than 1,000 parents, strengthening child safety and well-being through consistent, school-led interventions. Currently, Hapchi works across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, primarily with urban and semi-urban school communities.
Over the past year, around 50 percent of partner schools renewed or expanded their engagement, reflecting growing demand for structured safety education.
The organisation operates as a bootstrapped, revenue-led social enterprise, with most of its work sustained through paid partnerships with schools that adopt its year-long programmes.
Hapchi has been incubated by renowned institutions such as NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore, ISB EduRise, and the IIITB Innovation Centre, with further support from Elevate 2023, MeitY TIDE 2.0, and the Startup India Seed Fund.
But for Kanika, success isn’t measured by accolades — it’s measured by trust, awareness, and change. One story stays close to her heart.
Through consistent engagement, children gradually shift from silence and confusion to confidence and self-expression.
During a body safety session, a fifth-grader disclosed ongoing abuse at home. Though the school eventually discontinued HapSafe, and Hapchi received no revenue, Kanika’s team prioritised the child’s safety. Months of follow-up with an external support organisation ensured the girl was protected and supported. The case was handled in line with child protection protocols, with strict confidentiality and the student’s identity kept fully anonymous.
“This is the real meaning of success,” Kanika reflects. “When a child says, ‘This is my boundary, you can’t violate it,’ and seeks help, that’s the impact we’re working for.”
A vision for the future
Kanika envisions a day when child safety education is no longer a taboo, but a standard part of life skills training. “Children must grow up knowing that their safety matters and they will be heard if they speak up,” she says.
Her dream mirrors the belief of educators like Lakshmi: “Child safety education is the backbone of a future-ready school. Safe schools empower every child to feel heard, respected, and fearless.”
As Hapchi grows, it’s not just building safer schools; it’s fostering a future where every child feels protected, valued, and free to express themselves. And where speaking up isn’t an act of courage, but a simple right that every child knows they have.
Schools interested in partnering with Hapchi can reach out via [email protected], visit their website, connect on LinkedIn or call +91 95353 74764.
While HapSmart currently works through schools that adopt the programme, the organisation plans to launch a dedicated app in June 2026 that will allow parents to access child safety courses and resources directly.
All images courtesy Dr Kanika Sharma
