Recently the news about a school girl raped by her own school teacher left the whole nation benumbed with shock and shame. While we try to reconcile ourselves to this dark reality by looking for answers in the burning embers and muted cries of victims and in due course push the unpleasant memories under the pressures of our mundane problems, we need to look at the root cause of such incidents. Has anyone from us ever thought about this that what kind of education are we giving to our children? Do we know that the lessons that our children learn in the classrooms are far removed from the reality around them.
A detailed psychological study has shown that very often the repressive and authoritarian culture at schools can be linked to the violent and dysfunctional behaviour in adolescents and adults. As per psychiatrists if such behaviour is expressed and reformed in uninhibited interactions during childhood, then we may not have so many cases of well-behaved persons going berserk and giving vent to their repressed instincts in moments of frenzy. The process of education should thus be of developing the spirit of rational inquiry and self-discovery where teachers should facilitate children to inquire, explore, think and express different viewpoints and discern the values of life.
Nowadays there is a trend among the schools to teach values as subjects to children. But, one should remember a fact that values cannot be taught, they have to be caught by the young minds from their environment and good role models. We can have a long list of values but basically a value is that for which we dedicate our life. One needs to experience values in a practical way & enlighten self to make a difference to the whole world. When teachers fail to embody these values in their own behaviour, it raises confusion about the ideal and the practical. Hence, education should be a means for getting in touch with our innate values like love, happiness and truth so that we become strong, balanced and constructive citizens. So, let us work towards educating our children in value education as a living example & empower our future in true tradition of our culture & heritage.
