Act what you say

While addressing the gathering of Samajwadi party the Chief Minister of the state Mr Akhilesh Yadav mentioned an important thing indicating the conflict with his uncle. The statement was that if he had been equipped with a sword then it was inevitable to use the same. It was as if taking a horse to a pond and not allowing it to drink water. This was something which is so true in case of the parents and the children, specially the school going children. The general feeling in the mind of the people nowadays is that the children of the day are more demanding and less respectful towards their parents and the teachers. If I say that the behaviour of the children in the school is the reflection of what they have learnt at home, proves to be true in today’s scenario. Similarly, some people might argue that this is vice versa and I think nobody is right or wrong. So, this proves that the family and the school have significant impact on the child’s personality. But what we usually miss is the impact of the kind of environment the children are exposed to. The schools and the family are also affected by that. The laws of land and the media have a considerable impact in making the children understand the values and their responsibilities. Before I miss on the important point I wanted to make let me come back to the statement of the Chief Minister of UP. He says the sword was given to him and now being asked not to use the same. See in the context of the children. They are provided the best of the gadgets by the parents and then expecting that they will not use the same is not right. Similarly if a child has been gifted a two wheeler and then it is expected of him not to use the same, is not fair. On one side, we pretend to be open to their views and ideas and then expect them to be obediently following what we say and do not question us. Here the ‘Us’ and ‘We’ are for the parents and teachers both. On one hand, we tell that the children can decide their future themselves but on the other, we force them towards our choices of professions which we think would be safe for them.  On one side, we want our children not to be exposed to any hardships but at the same time want them to learn to live in any situation. We want them to be healthy but how much efforts parents make to provide them the healthy and balance diet. We want our children to develop reading habits but how many parents and teachers practice the same themselves. We want our children not to use mobiles etc but we are the ones who purchase the best possible mobile for them. The parents want the schools to be strict with the indiscipline cases but unfortunately they are the ones who come for the support of such cases. The teachers want their students to be punctual and reach the class in time but many of them do not report to the school or the classes in time. The unit tests etc., are forced upon the children in the name of being very important but the teachers take quite long to share the results of the same with the students and the parents and in the meantime the importance of the same is lost and the next time students may not take the same very seriously and naturally will be blamed for that. I can go on and on with so many examples proving the dual standards on our part with regard to the actions towards our students.

But if we think this is in case of students and teachers only, it will be wrong, actually it prevalent in our society. Even the government policies are full of such dichotomy. The society wants the police to be very effective in curbing crimes but they should be very loving and kind towards the ones who commit crimes. The paramilitary forces and armed forces should be having a humane approach towards militants and terrorists but at the same time there should be no incident of terrorism.  These might seem to be extreme examples but they make a lot of impact on our children. We must be very careful as society and the government that what we say is practiced also. The children are clean in their thoughts and as pure as anything can be on this planet but our approach of duality pollutes them. They are a pure soul when born and that can be kept intact if the whole system works for that. We must ensure that the kids are not made soft target for experiment rather they can be allowed to do experiment themselves. They are not the objects but a source of change which can make this world better place to live for all. The national character for any citizen is important but we must not forget the world character also which is the key in today`s time. The concept of professionalism and being better than others is alright but without others being around us is no life. So, the concept of living together must be the focus of all. The children in their childhood do not differentiate between themselves but we do make them get away from each other in the name of region, religion, caste, rich, poor and so many other categories and in the process the concept of humanity is lost somewhere.

 I took up this point for discussion because our children are the ones who will suffer in future because of the wrongs done by us today. The education system should be such that it is kept away from the politics of day to day life. Our politicians should stop playing politics with education as per their convenience but ensure that the education remains as the learning for the life and which makes individuals to see the entire society and the world as their own family. The units are very important but without an entity units in isolation are of no use. Let us teach our children learn to value the existence of others. Let us not confuse our children but challenge them to do better things. Let us not keep them the followers only but make them learn how to lead. Let us try to change the concept of politics so that our children take it as the means of serving the society and not hate it as something corrupt or not for good people (the PM of the country himself shared the same).

The CM of UP is young and dynamic and his thoughts do reflect the feelings of the young children of this generation. Though he may be criticised by some but yes this is the democracy and we must appreciate the same. But a line must be drawn for this also. As I mentioned before, education at home and the school is something which can make all the difference in the life of the children. Let the parents and teachers understand it well and act accordingly. This planet is still worth living and the best in the entire universe and let us try to keep it the same rather make it better by making our children learn good things and values. Let us try that our children become the torch bearers as the country men were in the past and we are proud of that. Let us ensure that the emotions are not covered or overpowered by the professionalism which is taking a dangerous shape in a swift manner. Emotions are the only thing which differentiates men and machines. Let us think and speak what we preach and not do other way round. Let us be just in our approach towards all and in our actions too. Looking forward to your comments.