Aghast after reading and hearing about the student murders taking place all over India, I decided to understand in depth about what is going wrong with the children of today... It all started with reports coming in of a student in class 8 being shot by two of his classmates via an automatic gun in a Gurgaon School. Then came reports of such happenings in an Engineering Institute in Noida and the third one from Satna, Madhya Pradesh. The MP incident involved a 15yr old boy who used his landlord father's 'Katta' to murder his junior. Up til now such gruesome acts were reported only in the US, made possible by the prevailing 'gun culture', whereby students could buy arms with ease and it was quite common for everyone to own a gun. But now its increasingly becoming a Global phenomenon.....Reflecting on what has been happening I realized that some children have somewhere lost the sensibility and the conscience of the limit and boundary that must not be crossed, be it to take revenge or just to as a dare!! The preposterous reason that the accused gave for the killing in the gurgaon case was that the victim had been bullying him for a long time and so he wanted to take revenge.
I have completed my schooling just a year ago, and soo am quite aware of the ongoing state of affairs in schools. Coming from a reputed private school in Delhi, I too have personally witnessed cases of violence and fights between students, reasons ranging from petty issues like girlfriends, bullying or just irreconcilable differences. In the fast paced and competitive lives where every student is fighting for the top spot, at times there is disregard for the other persons feelings. This can be seen right at the school level where I myself have seen great friendships break due to competitiveness. Some children do not seem to value precious lives that God has bestowed upon them and think its a joke to take away a life.... But i would like to go into the psyche of the children and understand how in their conscience, they justify the gross and grim act... The justification given by the student of the gurgaon killing was that it was a revenge for the perpetual bullying by his classmate... What harm does bullying do?? A child who is bullied for a long time and is traumatized may have psychological effects.. Bullying may victimize the students and effect their capabilities to concentrate on studies and acquire knowledge... soo when a kid is made to feel inferior there is all this pent up emotions which are bottled up inside him/her and due to being either afraid or physically weaker and not able to reply back on the spot and so have to swallow all the insult.... If there is continued emotional upheaval of such kind anybody would be devastated leave alone a 12yr old kid... But this does not warrant such a disgusting fightback!!
What is needed to keep in check such distress?? Here is where proper parenting and the role of a good school comes in.. First of all, Parents need to provide their child with a stable and harmonious home with unconditional love and 'Quality Time'. If there are any apparent changes like loss of appetite, depression, nervousness, lack of concentration, etc, the parent should try and go to the depth of the matter... There should be open lines communication between the child and the parents and the they should have such a relationship that the child is comfortable telling all that is happening.. Most of the times what happens is that parents cannot comprehend whats wrong with their child and think that by giving things time the matter will be resolved... But no, the solution is sitting with the child and having a heart to heart discussion as to whats wrong and by offering any help that could solve the problem... Parents talking to the classmates might not always be the best option as it could cause repercussions later... There can be an exactly opposite case where the parents are too concerned and anxious and so need to give the child his/her own space. Another solution is that the school should take responsibility of ensuring congeniality amongst all students and if any cases of fights or disagreements are reported then the school's counsellor should try and resolve the matter with the students... So a psychological counsellor in a school is a must!!!
The cause of such behaviour by the child should be understood.. Many child psychologists have researched in the field of child crime and the glaring fact is that disturbing family relations like differences between parents, with siblings or any kind of unstable environment at home is a major cause of such actions. So, a happy and progressive home leads to a mentally healthy child. Such unresolved psychological complications can result in an unhappy and traumatized adulthood too.. The reason behind the drastic rise in Child Crime can be the increasing amount of violence and brutality being depicted on TV and in Cinema.. Here is where the MEDIA comes into picture!! Young children are being exposed to programmes like CID, CSI and movies like Saw, Hostel, Fight for your life, Island of Death, Mark of the Devil!!! Many studies have shown that movies and TV are considered to have a great impact on a young child's mind... see the names, they itself are soo outrageous, what do you expect the children to learn and do!! The latest craze is of Video Games and Play Stations where kids are constantly fighting the cops, killing opponents, etc.... Such violent activities are bound to have several backlashes.... So parents need to be careful regarding what their kids are viewing and doing with their valuable time...
I can conclude by proposing what actually my teacher said, that being a Parent should not be a right but it needs to be considered a privilege. Parenting is the most toughest and challenging job and every aspect of it can either make or ruin a life!! So to avoid Child Crime what is utmost important is Counselling for parents at all stages of raising kids..!!! Ultimately it all boils down to how to raise a child!!
1 comment:
well written gal!!!
:)
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