Discipline!! and school

Hi

In the morning, I was listening to the song 'Give me some sunshine', from the movie 3 Idiots. Each time I listen to it, I am always reminded of my school days and some idiotic teachers we had. We had many teachers who with due respect to them, were very what do I say......strict! (yes, that is an understatement, but the due respect you see) Also, quite un - understanding!! I clearly remember 2 incidents where I felt the situation could have been dealt with in a much better way. Just for the record, I went to a very prestigious school, one of the best in India!!! (!@@##$) :):) (you people are smart enough to figure out what that means) 

One incident happened with me. I was probably in 6th or 7th grade and we had our annual day practice. We were standing in a queue, waiting for our dance turn to come. Due to the crowd of students and teachers and general chaos, we were getting pushed. I got pushed onto a teacher and accidentally stepped on her toes. Yes, it would have hurt her a lot, granted. 

But, she turned in anger and slapped me hard across the face! I was a small child and I started crying. The other kids started laughing at this thing. (Kids are quite cruel you know?) Maybe they did not know how to react. Whatever. Now it was not my fault, it could have happened to the teacher in a bus queue, movie theatre queue, wherever. Would she have slapped THAT person? No, of course not! Being a teacher gave her the power. 

The second incident happened, not with me, but a senior in school. We used to have morning assemblies which lasted for 30 minutes to 2 hours also!! This particular assembly was slightly longer than 30 minutes, though not in the 2 hour category. All throughout everyone noticed that a 12th grade boy was made to stand with his hands up, on the podium, near the principal. In that position, no one could not miss him. 

Finally, when the mundane stuff was dealt with, Madam Principal fulfilled our curiosity. She said that the boy was breaking an indicator light, of a teacher's car. The light that blinks for right or left, that light. Hence, she was rusticating him!!!!! This came as a shock to everyone and there were collective gasps, from students and teachers. I remember the teacher standing next to me, turned around and started discussing with a fellow teacher, what an insane punishment it was. 

The boy was in 12th grade, THE MOST IMPORTANT standard of school days, with the board exams looming around each second. Rusticating him meant that he would not get admission into even a half decent school, God knows if the government/poor ones would also take him. He would not have been able to give the board exams, thereby ruining his career! 

Even if he got admission, gave the boards, would the punishment not have scarred him for life? Maybe. It could have turned him against teachers and education totally, making him completely vengeful. Yes, he did something wrong, no one would condone the act. But, the punishment was too severe. Who knows, maybe the teacher (whose car it was), had slapped the boy many a times? I do not know what happened to the boy, maybe his parents intervened and stopped Madam Principal from making such a mistake. 

Till date, I feel that if I was in the boy's position, I would have smashed the car to pieces!!! :):) I mean, anyways I am rusticated, so what do I care? :):) Very bad, I know!!! 

I feel that teachers can contribute much more to a child's overall personality rather than just teaching him/her. The way discipline is taught is important. Beating up a child, humiliating him/her, comparing with better students etc, is not the answer. Unfortunately, that is what largely happens, still, in our education system. 

My next post, little more on this school madness. :):)

Ciao