Shootout at School
We are recreating
USA in India at a pace faster than imagined. After burger, it’s the so -
frequently - happening - shooting – in – school premises. That’s what has
happened in Yamuna nagar district of Haryana, a 12th std. student
shot four bullets at his school principal who succumbed to these shots. He got
hold of his father’s licensed 12 bore revolver. This incident brings to light
two major issues: Owner’s responsibility towards licensed firearms and the
wrong perception of humiliation in today’s generation.
Let’s first talk
about the safety of and from the licensed firearms. What precautions do the
owners take to keep them in safety? For how long are they kept safely tucked
away before a catastrophe strikes? In the cases such as above mentioned one,
there are, often, serious lapses from the parent’s side in keeping it away from
the volatile children. Should the government reconsider the policy of licensed
firearms in India?
What triggers this
sort of behavior in children is the sense of humiliation which is the result of
scolding in front of their class mates or friends. This generation is adversely
sensitive to scolding. They take it is as an insult in the presence of their
peer group.
It is considered majorly
an educational institution’s responsibility to make the children score good
MARKS in MOST of the subjects. This responsibility is also shared by the
coaching centers where the children go for supplementary education to
strengthen their skills and knowledge bank.
Corporal punishment
should not be resorted to. But there has to be some way to make the children
understand the value of paying attention in the class, completing the home work
& the assignments, discipline, appropriate classroom behavior and being regular
in academics. If after repeated cajoling and counseling also, the children are
not able to realise their duties as students, what should our next line of
action be?
The children are not
to be entirely blamed. Is it the gradually changing structure of the society or
the interference of mass media and internet into otherwise peaceful lives of
these youngsters?
The blame game will
go on, but the children are scarred for life. I believe, more than punishment,
such children need help, support to make them understand the importance of LIFE
and education.
The solution to this
maze lies in the difference between upbringing of children some 25-30 years ago
and the present times (15 years ago). In the earlier days, the children, both,
respected and feared their elders irrespective of their role in our life. The
fear was seldom misunderstood. They understood that this fear is keeping them
from doing anything WRONG, that it is taking them in the right direction. They
understood the malice in answering back to their elders, in letting them down.
Back then, they knew that expectations of their elders are meant to raise them
from the ordinary. Elders’ word was the last word that left no room for further
argument. They worked hard and proved their worth for their birthday gifts and
special demands. All these gifts were eagerly waited for and are cherished till
today.
Contrary to the
earlier times, in present times, the children respect less and fear lesser. A
simple NO is tormenting for
them; parents raising hand is not only out of question, but parents also do not
want to employ it. Parents seem to understand the worth of their children’s
self respect. Fair enough. As far as arguments are concerned, it’s the parents
who avoid any kind of argument with their children because they don’t want
things to become uglier than they already are!
Gifts and presents
are galore. Parents are providing their children before they ask for it. That
makes them all the more worthy of anything they demand (other than the things
already gifted). Therefore, they don’t how to value anything. Nowadays,
children don’t earn things; the parents are trying to earn their children’s
love.
This has turned
children into self-proclaimed important beings who see no one and nothing
beyond themselves. Consequently, this has created emotional imbalance in them
as they have not learned to wait and be answerable for their actions. This
disparity has given rise to more complicated behavioral problems. Hence, life
skills and soft skills, that parents are enriched with, don’t get to mould the
children. The upbringing of children is majorly influenced by the upbringing of
their parents. The parents want to fill the gap that was (they think) created
by their parents. They want to fulfill their children’s unrequited wishes by
providing what they don’t need or want. They want to replace “lack of” with “abundance.” The root cause for volatile behavior of the children is because of the
freedom they are given which at times cannot be handled by them. To add to the
problem, parents’ FAITH in them does not let them keep a check on their freedom.
With this unlimited freedom, the ever - competitive society has heaped on them
the burden of best performance as an all-rounder. Give them a break.
They do get break
and how! Advent of mass media, internet, computer, laptop, tablets, I - pads, I
- pods, android phones and other technological advancements has added fuel to
the fire of parents’ indulgence in their children.. There is no looking back
for the untrained, innocent, raw souls and they take up everything that is
given to them as this is the process of growing up, be it good or bad, right or
wrong. The moral policing has taken a backseat as the children are know-it-alls.
They seem to know what is right for them. The cherry on the cake - they know
that they are right!
Let us try to
analyze what we are doing to our children. Let’s get back to creating human
beings and not MONSTERS. Its time, we found answers to these questions – Is it
alright to create such a hype around Board Examinations? Is the fear of
performance in exams, taking a toll on our children’s emotional health? Is our society
equipped for such unfortunate incidents? Are we ready to accept such incidents
as “a stray incident”?
