I
loved the passage given for the reading comprehension this time by CBSE for
class 12. It’s about youth and
values. It begins thus: “Too many
parents these days can’t say no.” It
goes on to argue why saying ‘no’ to children is important. Giving in to all the demands of children is
paving the way of their ruin. It creates
a generation of people who are never satisfied with anything they get, because they’ve
been getting it all too easily.
Easy
availability is a dangerous thing. It
makes you feel that you deserve the best.
If you don’t get it, you will grab it by hook or by crook. That’s the kind of generation we have
created, says the passage.
“Today’s
parents aren’t equipped to deal with the problem,” goes on the passage. “Many of them, raised in the 1960s and 70s”
went through hard days. They were
whipped at school and at home. They are
the people, like me, whose parents went to the school and told the teachers, “Whip
my child as much as you like. Make
him/her obedient.” And the school never
spared the rod in those days. Those
students who were whipped mercilessly by the teachers and parents are today’s
parents. And teachers. We, the parents and teachers want to give the
best to our children. So we made it an
easy world for them. Too easy. We gave them the best. We gave them whatever they wanted.
Except
values and principles. We taught them to
question since we were deprived of that right.
And they questioned. They even
brought the police to the campus if any teacher dared to speak a word that they
didn’t like. And the teacher belongs to
the same generation as their parents who only want to pamper as much as
possible. How far can the pampering go?
I’m
writing this because I met with a minor accident today. I was knocked down by a bike driven by two “children”. Both the driver and the pillion rider were
less than 18 years old. How they got the
license to drive is only one of the many questions that arise. They were driving in the wrong direction on a
one-way road. I looked in one direction
only while crossing the road since it was one-way traffic. These youngsters came from the wrong side and
knocked me down. I fell prostrate on the
road at Chattarpur in Delhi, an area where the traffic is not too busy
usually. I got up from the road with
dust all over my body.
“Saala,”
the boys started abusing me. I couldn’t
understand much of the Hindi they spoke.
Thankfully, they didn’t give me the usual MC/BC adulation.
I
smiled at them and said, “You came in the wrong direction, you’ve broken the
simple traffic rules, you’ve knocked me down, and you’re abusing me. What kind of behaviour is this?”
The
pillion rider who had stepped down from the bike came to me with a raised fist. I said, “Ok, before you hit me, let’s call
the police. Let the police decide who’s
right.” I took out my phone.
The
rider of the bike said, “Leave it, get
on...” And the “children” continued to
ride in the wrong direction. Not before
hurling a few more expletives at me.
My
instincts said, “Bastards.” I said it
loud enough for them to hear. But in
Chattarpur few people understand English, thankfully.
Am
I, as a teacher (I never dared rear children of my own), a useless entity in
this society? This is a question that
has been nagging me for some time. I’m
happy I’m not a parent. But I’m not
happy to be a teacher now.
The
CBSE passage for the exam ends thus: “That means parents eager to teach values
have to take a long, hard look at their own.”
But
the parents’ obligation will continue to be confined to question papers. CBSE and the present school managements have
put a lot of duties on teachers in this regard: duties to build up values in
the children who are “bastards” in the sense that they have no moral
parentage.
Although i agree with your views but actually you cannot generalize all children ! the society needs to take a hard look at how the youth are coping with issues like unemployment and job stress!
ReplyDeleteThere are also good children, yes, Nima, no doubt. No generalisation. If I sounded so, it's my fault, my fault, my grievous fault.
DeleteVery true! Though I always teach my children not to abuse or hit anybody, I have seen many mothers teaching them to retaliate more powerfully if somebody hits them! I am so worried when these children grow up how violent they are going to become?
ReplyDeleteRatna, once I told a group of students, "You'd better polish your behaviour a little, your behaviour is the mirror of your parents." A child's personality is already built before he joins the school, any psychology book on personality development will tell you that. What the teacher can do is work on what's already built.
DeleteVery true! I always teach my child to sort out differences with others through discussions, but sometimes I worry how he is going to cope up with kids who are taught by their parents to be violent! I remember, once I forced my son to go and complain to the mother of his friend who hit him, but was surprised when the mother asked my son," why don't you hit him back?"
DeleteThis is a grave issue. Sir, you're true. Easy availability of things ruins a person. We are three siblings and I remember all of us getting scolded and spanked often. I burnt up my phone and my dad didn't buy me a new one, I am using the old and weary one. :) But I also see a classmate of mine spending 7000 bucks for a birthday treat (and I didn't buy a phone). How this spoils I have seen. Parents are to be blamed for this at the first place. This teaching of values has to start right itself when a kid is in mother's womb. A baked pot can never be reshaped.
ReplyDeleteI am going to share this article.
You are lucky to have been born to such parents, Namrata. Too much luxury has seldom created good human beings. It is better to go through the necessary struggles of life... I'm very familiar with the picture you've drawn here. I see very rich students every day, students who don't know the value of anything, not even the material value, forget moral values.
DeleteCouldn't agree more! Parents are the first teachers. The sense of entitlement the next generation has scares me. I do not wish my child, any child, to suffer from the ills that plagued my generation, but nor do I wish them to grow up without any values or any sense of respect. It's a very fine tightrope, but we as parents (and also teachers), must walk it.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the trauma you suffered, and I wish you a quick recovery.
Thanks for the concern, Nilanjana. I was not physically hurt. The boys had managed to slow down the bike before it hit my shin. Nothing serious. It's their behaviour that I found highly offensive. The least they could have done was to say sorry.
DeleteThe sense of entitlement, you said it right. That's the malady
Valid points here, Sir.
ReplyDeleteMy dad wondered about 2 kids driving at break-neck speed, who had just avoided missing his car... Fortunately they didn't continue for long. Unfortunately they met with a severe accident further down the road...
Glad that you are saved from a major accident. Usually falling on the ground on a busy street can have worse implications...
You find a lot of kids these days showing off their driving skills on public roads these days. Delhi is particularly notorious for that. There are late night revels by bikers in certain areas. But challenging nature's laws always invites risks, as you mentioned in the example.
DeleteYouth is living in the era of intenet where whole world comes in hands just by clicking a button. .everything comes so easily. .Parents provides all the facilties to their children just to make sure that their children don't get deprived of anything in their life..I want to relate it with ur article "BODY OBSESSION" thats the actual thing which youth wants to get know and understand and once they understand this then there will be no need of teaching them manners or I can say then parents need not be blamed for their upbringing. .may be western culture is becoming so popular in our country can be one of the reasons for the behaviour of youth.
ReplyDeleteWe can't avoid intermingling of cultures in the globalised world, Varsha. What can be done is to give the required thinking and analytic skills to youngsters.
DeleteBy the way, I'm thrilled that you quoted another article of mine.
I too am a mother and I often wonder how my son would behave once he grow up. I also wonder which of my parenting mistakes might end up being discussed at the office of a counsellor. The internet generation is very fast and we parents are ill equipped for the pressures parenting these days.
ReplyDeleteDon't blame parents sir..or anyone for the sake of naming. Right from the person who gave them the bike overlooking their age, the lazy traffic police and the adrenaline rush called youth all are eligible for the blame.
Thank God you are ok... Be safe.
Dear Preethi, why did you ever think I was blaming parents? I never intend to blame anyone. I raise a lot of questions. I'm fully aware how difficult it is for parents these days. I have brothers and sisters who are parents and I know... a lot more than you may imagine.
DeleteI'm ok. Don't bother at all. I think I have the proverbial cat's life. The number of accidents I have met with is not too small :) Interestingly, what has hurt me most is in my own school. I fell down while reading a book and fractured my leg which confined me to three months of plaster and another six months of limping. It's always the closest that harms the most!
Sry sir ... i couldn't stop myself from commenting on this blog...
ReplyDeletethe blog left me speechless.... i could remember the time when i spoke to few of my teachers rudely... ohh how wrong i was.... they are of same age of my parents.. and being living in a hostel i can even say that they are the one who raised me.. pampered me ...loved me and i was so shamless i argued with them when they scolded me....
amazing blog sir.... u made me realise my mistake :(
Aren't you always welcome in my space, Manish? You know me and I know you. You and 99% of my students wouldn't have behaved that way... Anyway, that's nothing. I have learnt to smile a lot in spite of myself... Make your future. that's more important than my blogs.
DeleteI referred ur article because thats the thing youth wants to learn , real happiness. .
ReplyDeleteI have also commented on same ..it seems u have not yet read my comments on that
Yeah, I've just read your comment... Well, it goes a little beyond my normal understanding. Give me time to understand you. You know, in mylanguage (Malayalam) there's a very old (classical?) film song which starts thus: "Give me a moment to dissolve in you; give me a yug to understand you." Sometimes I find it easier to dissolve than understand. You seem to belong to that category.
DeleteTomichan - you should have given them two tight slaps .. you are right the parents are to be blamed if a child cannot respect other fellow members of the society. I am not saying spanking is the right way to teach a child, but if necessary a parent should consider that too.
ReplyDeleteMy god! Sangeeta, the boys would have just killed me on the spot. You should have seen their body language. And believe me, Delhi doesn't care two hoots for anyone killing anyone on the road. Delhi finds that entertainment. I have understood Delhi more than any place I lived in. It's a place of animals who wear all kinds of garbs. Even those of Babas and saints. In fact, the boys seemed to have been of some political party. They were both wearing white kurtas with some kind of headgear and a scarf which meant some kind of clout.
DeleteVery true, these days kids simply cannot appreciate little happiness in life as they are showered with gifts even before they ask for it. A similar experience that I came across in the sand park of our apartment, a young child as old as 8years gave back to me that their parents paid the same maintenance as I and hence could play on the swing for as long as she pleased, it was indeed shocking for me. I hope you are fine. Will share this article.
ReplyDeleteToo much pampering, desiherald. I read this morning in Malayala Manorama that the Kerala Board of Exams has decided to give 17 marks as grace in the political science paper of class XI simply because some students found the exam hard. It means that any student getting 7 marks in the exam will pass the exam which was out of 80 marks. The teachers in Kerala questioned the decision of the Board saying that it was killing the education system. But who cares?
DeleteDear Mr. Tomichan, Thanks for sharing this post. Hope you must have recovered from the situation by now.. Yes, as someone mentioned, we do go through these bad experiences from today's youth and other people from time to time. Am not sure who or what to blame it for - parenting ? Yes, making everything available without sweat make the children not read to face challenges...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jayanta. I'm sure you know what Mr Narayana Murthy of Infosys did with his wealth. He refused to give it all to his children because he knew it would ruin them. He gave it to charity and asked his children to make their own wealth. Of course, he gave them the best education and the oppportunities to grow. that's ideal parenting, I believe.
DeleteSad to hear that you got hurt. Even I do not understand where this generation is leading into. Earlier, children used to play outside, play with toys. But now they born with Smart Phones and Tabs. Even guardians gift them these devices at the age of 3 or 4.
ReplyDeleteQuestion is what if, if one parent denies them. Even if one denies, when child sees his friends using this big tots, he will feel deprived. Ultimately, parents have to avail these things to their child.