MURDER OF SCHOOL TEACHER IN CHENNAI BY HER STUDENT                                                         WHAT DO THE SCHOO…

                                        MURDER OF SCHOOL TEACHER IN CHENNAI BY HER STUDENT

                                                        WHAT DO THE SCHOOL STUDENTS THINK ?

Nandini Voice for The Deprived ,a Chennai  based NGO organised an essay competition for school students  in Tamil Nadu on the following  subject

                           “VIOLENCE  IN  SCHOOL  PREMISE  -   WHY DID THIS HAPPEN ?”

Objective :

The recent murder of  a school teacher by her own student in the class room in Chennai  has caused huge concern and alarm all over India. Obviously, there are serious problems  and issues concerning school education, which remain to be clearly understood  to evolve appropriate solutions.       

Well meaning  educationists and social activists have been suggesting number of improvements in educational system. However, it is necessary to give an opportunity to the school students  to express their views and offer their suggestions. Their views would certainly provide considerable feed back for the society and the government.

With this objective,  Nandini Voice For the Deprived  organized the essay competition.

Participants :

All school students studying in  9^th standard to 12^th standard  in Tamil Nadu were  eligible to participate in the competition.

There were overwhelming response  from school students  from all over Tamil Nadu.

Several students submitted their views with clarity and maturity, particularly considering their age .

While the original proposal was to  select three students for the award, considering the quality of the essays,  it was decided to increase the number of awardees to ten.

                                                The following are the prize winners 

                                      The highlights of the views  of the students are provided .

The competitive pressure :

The students are made to think that ultimate success and  growth in their fortunes  would depend almost entirely on their academic performance.  Huge pressure is exerted on the students by the parents and the teachers to get high grades and if they would not do so they are condemned as sub standard.

Many parents seem to be obsessed with the thought that their wards should achieve what they could not achieve.

As a result,  many students do not find  time to play but are forced to run between the school premises and tuition centres. In the process, they  do not develop the capability to think and introspect originally and sometimes fall prey to temptations such as drinking  and become violent in moment of pressure and frustration.

The practice of giving pocket money :

Several students objected to the practice of parents giving  pocket money to the  school going students , which is one primary reason for the students  being tempted to indulge in bad and undesirable acts.

There is absolutely no justification to give such pocket money to the students every day as they go to the school.  This practice is not confined to affluent families alone but economically poor families also indulge in this practice though the money they give is much less .

Obviously, this practice indicates that the parents are careless and some students said  even irresponsible.

Bad example set by parents :

Particularly in the middle and upper income group, the life style of parents themselves are changing . Several parents take to drinking in the house in front of their children, without bothering  about the  impact on the mindset of their children in the formative age group.  One girl student said that she would hate her father whenever he would indulge in drinking in the company of his friends during the week ends in the house.

With several cinemas and TV  showing scenes of  violence and vulgarity, the parents take the children to theatre to see such shows and this gives an impression to the young students that such violence and vulgarity  are normal and  part of life, which is approved by the parents.

Negative influence of media and internet :

With children having unhindered exposure to internet  and practically unchecked by the parents, the mindset of the children inevitably get corrupted  by  seeing  many undesirable writings and photographs. The parents think that working on computer is modern and does not care to check as to what the children are doing.

Further, these days the photographs  appearing in several journals and newspapers are so disturbing and some students said that section of the media appear to  have become irresponsible about the impact  of  the  content  of the media on younger generation.

Some students said that  when they come back home in the evening from school, the parents who go for jobs are not there  in the house to welcome them and they are left with only TV sets and internet.

 The role of teachers :

With both the parents  working,  in many families the parents  just assume that the school and the teachers will take care of the progress and conduct of the students. The teachers however committed and capable,  cannot be substitute for the parents in moulding the character of the students.

Therefore, the primary responsibility for the bad behaviour of the students must be borne by the parents rather than the teachers.

On their part, it is necessary for the teachers to change and modify the approach in dealing with the students, since the students nowadays have great exposure to many things and really are not “that innocent”.

The teachers should be discreet in attempting to correct  the deficiency of the  individual students by counseling them in private rather than in front of his class mates or during the assembly time.

The teachers also  seem to need much more training  and orientation programmes, since they are also under tremendous pressure exerted by the school management to show good results in the examination. Some students said that the teachers seem to be more tense than the students these days.

Importance of  value  based education:

Value based education has taken a back seat in schools today . The students are growing up in moral vacuum.

The main focus of school education these days is to make the students score high grades and the task of character building  has been practically ignored. There should be compulsory moral education classes atleast two hours every week and scholars from outside must be invited to interact with the students about the social values and personal morals.

Role of grand parents

Several students do not have the advantage of the calming influence of grand parents, aunts and uncles,  as the nuclear families have become the order of the day. 

The grand parents can certainly play a big role in moulding the mind set of the children , much better  than what the teachers and parents can do.

Need for role models for the students :

Ultimately, the students   are the victims of the prevailing moral and ethical climate in the country.

The task of teachers and parents have become very challenging at present time , in view of the many negative influences to which the young students are exposed.

The teachers and the parents have to remain as role models for the teenagers . If they would not be so , how can anyone blame the students for all their faults ?

N.S.Venkataraman

Nandini  Voice For The Deprived

Website:- www.nandinivoice.org