Newspaper clipping - School locks up 16 girls

This news appears in the Hindu today, i.e. 11-07-18. What is noteworthy is the incident occurred in the capital city of the country - New Delhi. If you believe that schools are temples of learning and promote values and nurture holistic personalities, isn't this enough to open your eyes?

In this case the management felt that they could squeeze out fees from the parents if they punished children. If one asks you to give an example how films influence us, offer this example without a second thought. The school tried the trick a typical villain in our  Indian films plays. He binds the hero's family members in his den and forces  the hero for a final clash.  The hero does not lodge any police complaint to free his family and get the villain arrested.  He annihilates the villain and his gang single-handedly and proves that good finally wins over evil . The police may come or may not come. Nobody sheds tears for the villain and his gang though they are killed most often by the hero. Their dead bodies simply vanish into thin air as the hero and the heroine are happily married.

But in this context, the parents of the children did not pay the fees to get their children released as expected by the management. They did not fight like the film heroes to release their children. They staged a protest at the school and forced the police register a case of illegal confinement and cruelty to children. This is what one is supposed to do in a civilised society. The constitution guarantees us certain rights, and the constitutional bodies are there to address them when they are violated. You have a right to protest when some indulge in unconstitutional methods  to pressurise you.

Teachers are unfortunately divided on the rationality of corporal punishment. Those who advocate corporal punishment argue that children  don't listen to us unless we threaten to punish them. Many of us strongly agree that fear of punishment should exist or be created. The school goes to dogs if children are given the impression that they will not be punished when they do not perform the school tasks, or follow the rules. What is tragic is we do not care to ask ourselves if our ideas and actions confirm to the core principles of the constitutions. We do not care to check whether we are violating the constitution and the fundamental rights that are enshrined in it.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 says that a person is punishable if he/she beats, kicks, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering or causes. In a civilised society ill-treating of animals is considered a punishable crime. Then what about children? Children are punished by parents as well as teachers. We believe that corporal punishment doesn't do any harm to children. We have the cherished notion that they put them on the right path path. It makes them respect the elders, follow rules and work hard. Many of us believe that we all have succeeded in life because our elders have punished us and discouraged us from getting spoiled.

We quite often forget that  we are all imitative learners. Parents and teachers who hurt children verbally and physically were victims of the same treatment in their childhood. Most probably they have been  so repeatedly subjected to similar ill-treatment by their elders that they have become insensitive to the hurt  it causes. They have forgotten how hurtful the verbal and physical punishment were in the initial days. They have forgotten the pinch and the amount of hatred and venom they generated. There is absolutely no point in believing what works sometimes works all the time. It is inhuman to think what worked for you in the past works for your children. Thanks to this kind of insensitive upbringing and tons of violence on the screen we have become insensitive to the evil effects effects of corporal punishment.

There are alternatives to corporal punishment. We should explore them and stop following centuries old cruel practices unabashedly. We do not believe in listening to others because we are convinced that it is a waste of time. When children make mistakes, we do not try to probe why they do. In schools we expect children to follow rules. We do not ask ourselves if the rules are democratic. We do not discuss if the task given by us need more time and whether it clashes with the tasks given by others. In most schools there is no discussion on the kind and quality of work done by the teachers. Most often rules are formed unilaterally by people in authority and obedience is taken for granted. Administrators and teachers are always under the conviction that rules are good and should be obeyed for the smooth functioning of the system. It is believed that questioning them leads to  indiscipline and failure of the system. The forgotten fact is the system functions well when the stakeholders own the responsibility.

You cannot generate the feeling of responsibility among the children unless you are prepared to listen to them and help or make them contribute to the norms that guide their behaviour. There is less need for rules when you are self-conscious about your behaviour and sensitive to others' feelings. The purpose of education should be to help children understand themselves better. Education should also help children to regulate themselves and avoid hurting  others. A teacher who punishes children verbally or physically does not set a  good example to his/her students. We fail to understand that iy requires great conviction, commitment and rigorous self-training if we are not to resort to physical and mental abuse of children. Respect for children is a quality that teacher still need to nurture.

This evil practice of giving corporal punishments must stop. If as elder fail to find alternatives to physical and verbal punishments, it is sheer hypocrisy to expect children to change their objectionable behaviours and attitudes. Bothe require great effort. In both cases upbringing and absence of proper training are playing a strong cementing role. Only when elders and teachers stand as role models, children learn that certain acts are against civilised behaviour, and conflicts and problems can be resolved through non-violent methods, discussion and, at time compromise. We confuse children with our double standards. We beat children to discourage them from classroom fighting. Inadvertently we verbally and physically control children, we are teaching  them that might always wins, and elders are unquestionable in their decisions and acts. When the heads of  the educational institutions discourages discussion, the  teachers  mete out the same to their students. The tragedy is these hurtful practices are passed on to us from the older generation and we are bequeathing the same to our future generations mindlessly. No wonder if the world is growing more and less tolerant and more violent.

Schools should not be replicas society's evil practices. They should safeguard children and nurture democratic practices. Undemocratic schools are a menace to democracy and civilisation. I wonder what the teacher in Rabea Girls Public School were doing while the nursery children were locked up? Were they helpless and at the beck and call of the management? Do such teachers nurture empathy and respect for the dignity of  human life among their children?