Monday, February 13, 2012

WHY THIS KOLAVERI...DI...? = WHY EXACTLY - IS REAL VIOLENCE GROWING IN OUR CHILDREN & YOUTH? = WHAT CAN WE DO PRACTICALLY...TO MAKE THEM GOOD CITIZENS?


WHY THIS
KOLAVERI...Di...?


The song has become popular for more than one reason. It means, why do you have this murderous instinct, my dear?

The context of this song is LOVE, and the song in total, is a English-Tamil combination of some beautiful, Sweet nothings.

But, leave that aside. The murderous instincts in our children and youth are of course really growing. That is the unnerving situation today.

The other day, a school boy in Tamilnadu stabbed and killed his school teacher.

In Delhi, small kids are being sexually exploited by their seniors and others in a children’s home – says a report.

Ragging is a common feature in many colleges – even after it has been banned. 
We do get periodic reports of serious cases – though less serious cases do not get reported.

We are becoming insensitive to violence. That is the impression we get  when we read all such juvenile and youth crime reports in New Papers.

So what should be done?

In some TV  Channels, it was being suggested that psychological counseling must be given to such children. Some say – counsel children on what is reality and what is fiction. Beyond this – no other suggestions could be seen at all.
But, why is such serious crime getting implanted in young brains? Finding the cause is important. If the cause is unknown, or, known and ignored, then, there is no hope of a remedy.

One cause arises in the Family. Perpetual feuds between mother and father and other elders is a cause for instigating violence on the part of Children too, who are watching them frequently. If Parents can’t adjust and live in peace and a loving atmosphere, children who see them quarrel frequently will grow in a Psychologically impaired way. This cannot be avoided.

Drunken husbands and nagging wives are a reality in many homes and are a big cause of unhappiness to themselves and to their children.

Add to them, nagging mothers-in-law, rebellious and non-adjusting daughters-in-law and others – the story grow thicker. These are all causes for families becoming nuclear families now. All of them need relationship education – not just counseling.

There is another paradox in India. Some families and some communities are – proud of being branded as violent families and violent communities! What do you do with them? There is no place for violence in a democracy. But, who understands that?

Being courageous is different from being violent. This needs to come from school education itself. The value of non-violence coupled with Courage and strength needs to be taught at school.

But, if school is a breeding ground for violence – then what? Some school authorities are averse to taking any action against Seniors indulging in violent ragging. The Law should become much stricter and much more effective on this aspect.

It was horrifying to see a video showing extreme violence by some college students , some time back  on a TV Channel.

Decades ago – Education used to signify culture.  Now, it no more signifies any thing of that sort. No morals, no values, no ideals, nothing seems to be taught in schools and colleges – to make them  GOOD CITIZENS. Schools and Colleges must teach these – else, the Education without values – is totally valueless.

We are tinkering with education, debating insignificant questions like – whether marks are better or Grades are better etc – totally ignoring the basic purpose of education for the country.

The profession of Teachers must be placed on a higher pedestal than other professions. Teachers must be chosen for their values – apart from their education. In any case, they must be models of GOOD CONDUCT.

In some schools in the south, some teachers used to call their students as DOGS! Then, the practice picked up among students – who started calling each other as DOGs. Then, they started calling their teachers as DOGS in their private conversations. Sometime later, all of them were insensitive to the indecency of all this. Whom to blame? Where to stem the rot?

When a Teacher punishes a student, he / she must know the limit –and the stick must be reformative and not retributive. A teacher must LOVE – even when punishing. If this attitude is there – I fully support the old adage – spare the rod and spoil the child. If this attitude is missing in the teacher, the rod certainly becomes a weapon of violence.

Teacher has every right to tell the Parent about the performance of the Child – and the Parent must respond to it positively – by discussing with the child and ensuring their reasonable progress. This right must be available to teachers.

But then, everybody, especially the Parents, must ensure that the child takes it in the right spirit. The teacher must also write – in the right spirit. The motivation of the teacher must always be kept high.

I do not agree with Psychologists that an external psychologist must do counseling for parents and students – and possibly for teachers.

A good Teacher – is the best psychologist there is – for the student. The teacher knows, and must know,  the strengths and weaknesses of the student. He or she must provide all possible motivation to the students to perform well.

But all said – as a society, we must always understand that in any class, of say, 30 students, someone will be at number one and someone will be at number thirty and others in-between. This will be so whether you are in a village school or a premier school in a city.

This reality must always be accepted by the teachers, the parents and the  students. Our combined attempt has to be – to raise each student level, to the best of HIS ABILITY – and not competing with the number one or two.

Promoting friendship among students must be a conscious activity of the schools and colleges. The number one and number thirty must be friends – marks being immaterial. The spirit of friendship should not be compromised by difference in Marks. Education has to aim at such ethics. Else, it is no education at all.

Progress and Excellence must be the goal posts – not competition.

The next cause for violence – but by far, the most obnoxious cause, in my opinion -  is the beaming of violent scenes of movies, TV serials in every TV channel, night and day, all the time.

Violence and Obscenity are becoming an addiction for the masses – for this one reason. People are becoming insensitive to violence and obscenity – and crave for more and more bizarre varieties of them.

This trend must stop. It is frivolous to argue that there is no  proof for the violence outside being inspired by violence in movies. There is TOO MUCH violence in our movies and that is bad in itself. Worse is the FACT that it is now the HERO who indulges in most of the violence, in most of the movies.

People tend to ape the Hero. Let there be no doubt about it. Everybody does it at least in his imagination. When someone gets a chance, they do in reality too.

We do not find a Hero reading, or researching, or being honest in passing exams. This is very rare. But, he is adept in fighting scores of people – even hundreds of people and killing them in the cruelest way. That’s heroism.

Unless this sort of cruel Heroism stops – violence in society is bound to grow. Violence among children especially will grow faster.

*  *  *  E  N  D  *  *  *





The other day, a school boy in Tamilnadu stabbed and killed his school teacher.
In Delhi, small kids are being sexually exploited by their seniors and others in a children’s home – says a report.

Ragging is a common feature in many colleges – even after it has been banned. We do get periodic reports of serious cases – though less serious cases do not get reported.

We are becoming insensitive to violence. That is the impression we get  when we read all such juvenile and youth crime reports in New Papers.

So what should be done?

In some TV  Channels, it was being suggested that psychological counseling must be given to such children. Some say – counsel children on what is reality and what is fiction. Beyond this – no other suggestions could be seen at all.

But, why is such serious crime getting implanted in young brains? Finding the cause is important. If the cause is unknown, or, known and ignored, then, there is no hope of a remedy.

One cause arises in the Family. Perpetual feuds between mother and father and other elders is a cause for instigating violence on the part of Children too, who are watching them frequently. If Parents can’t adjust and live in peace and a loving atmosphere, children who see them quarrel frequently will grow in a Psychologically impaired way. This cannot be avoided.

Drunken husbands and nagging wives are a reality in many homes and are a big cause of unhappiness to themselves and to their children.

Add to them, nagging mothers-in-law, rebellious and non-adjusting daughters-in-law and others – the story grow thicker. These are all causes for families becoming nuclear families now. All of them need relationship education – not just counseling.

There is another paradox in India. Some families and some communities are – proud of being branded as violent families and violent communities! What do you do with them? There is no place for violence in a democracy. But, who understands that?

Being courageous is different from being violent. This needs to come from school education itself. The value of non-violence coupled with Courage and strength needs to be taught at school.

But, if school is a breeding ground for violence – then what? Some school authorities are averse to taking any action against Seniors indulging in violent ragging. The Law should become much stricter and much more effective on this aspect.

It was horrifying to see a video showing extreme violence by some college students , some time back  on a TV Channel.

Decades ago – Education used to signify culture.  Now, it no more signifies any thing. No morals, no values, no ideals, nothing seems to be taught in schools and colleges – to make them  GOOD CITIZENS. Schools and Colleges must teach these – else, the Education without values – is totally valueless.

We are tinkering with education, debating insignificant questions like – whether marks are better or Grades are better etc – totally ignoring the basic purpose of education for the country.

The profession of Teachers must be placed on a higher pedestal than other professions. Teachers must be chosen for their values also – apart from their education. In any case, they must be models of GOOD CONDUCT.

In some schools in the south, teachers used to call students as DOGS! Then, it picked up among students – who started calling each other as DOG. Then, they started calling their teachers as DOGS in their private conversations. Sometime later, all of them were insensitive to the indecency of all this. Whom to blame? Where to stem the rot?

When a Teacher punishes a student, he / she must know the limit –and the stick must be reformative and not retributive. A teacher must LOVE – even when punishing. If this attitude is there – I fully support the old adage – spare the rod and spoil the child. If this attitude is missing in the teacher, the rod certainly becomes a weapon of violence.

Teacher has every right to tell the Parent about the performance of the Child – and the Parent must respond to it positively – by discussing with the child and ensuring their reasonable progress. This right must be available to teachers.

But then, everybody, especially the Parents, must ensure that the child takes it in the right spirit. The teacher must also write – in the right spirit. The motivation of the teacher must always be kept high.

I do not agree with Psychologists that an external psychologist must do counseling for parents and students – and possibly for teachers.

A good Teacher – is the best psychologist there is – for the student. The teacher knows, and must know,  the strengths and weaknesses of the student. He or she must provide all possible motivation to the students to perform well.

But all said – as a society, we must always understand that in any class, of say, 30 students, someone will be at number one and someone will be at number thirty and others in-between. This will be so whether you are in a village school or a premier school in a city.

This reality must always be accepted by the teachers, the parents and the  students. Our combined attempt has to be – to raise each student level, to the best of HIS ABILITY – and not competing with the number one or two.

Promoting friendship among students must be a conscious activity of the schools and colleges. The number one and number thirty must be friends – marks being immaterial. The spirit of friendship should not be compromised by difference in Marks. Education has to aim at such ethics. Else, it is no education at all.

Progress and Excellence must be the goal posts – not competition.

The next cause for violence – but by far, the most obnoxious cause, in my opinion -  is the beaming of violent scenes of movies, TV serials in every TV channel, night and day, all the time.

Violence and Obscenity are becoming an addiction for the masses – for this one reason. People are becoming insensitive to violence and obscenity – and crave for more and more bizarre varieties of them.

This trend must stop. It is frivolous to argue that there is no  proof for the violence outside being inspired by violence in movies. There is TOO MUCH violence in our movies and that is bad in itself. Worse is the FACT that it is now the HERO who indulges in most of the violence, in most of the movies.

People tend to ape the Hero. Let there be no doubt about it. Everybody does it at least in his imagination. When someone gets a chance, they do in reality too.

We do not find a Hero reading, or researching, or being honest in passing exams. This is very rare. But, he is adept in fighting scores of people – even hundreds of people and killing them in the cruelest way. That’s heroism.

Unless this sort of cruel Heroism stops – violence in society is bound to grow. Violence among children especially will grow faster.

*  *  *  E  N  D  *  *  *




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