Horror in Schools

If there was one place in the society where we safely assume our children to be safe and sound, it was school. That myth stands shattered now. Rape, caning, other forms of verbal and physical abuse, isolation and what not! Everything we tell our kids to be bad and not to be done is happening within the hallowed walls of the Temples of Learning. You must be abreast with most of the recent news about such incidents from across the country. It is a situation where shame and guilt have become too weak a word to describe it.

I may not have written anything about this as it is just too painful to even think of such gory facts. A senior colleague of mine raised this very issue this afternoon with the management at the school where her 2.5 years old daughter goes for day care. He had complained to the management about two senior teachers, one of them a lady, beating kids and not giving them food as a form of punishment. Children at any age should not be physically tortured let alone the toddlers. He kept part-requesting, part-arguing, part-shouting at the school manager over the phone for more than an hour. And finally, he had to disconnect saying that he will pull out his daughter from there on next Monday. He was dead certain that he cannot allow his ward to go to a school where teachers behave like heads of rowdy gang.

There are several reasons to laud the courage of my colleague. I am so happy that the poor little child should not suffer any more nightmare at school. But, how many of us actually take that stand? The answer should be "few and far between". The cases do get reported and some action does ensue - be it Bangalore, Kolkata, Jaipur, Delhi and many others in that long list. Wherever things have come to light, some steps have been taken. All of them should be taken to the conclusion where the guilty is punished and a system is put in place to prevent such wrongdoings in future.

Can any form of punishment to the guilty teachers, non-teaching staff or anybody else who is directly or indirectly involved in the crime, bring back the what is lost? Can it erase the trauma and that too from the tender minds and hearts of kids? Our society has long gone past the stage where any kind of penalization deters anybody. We are into a phase where morals are suited for text decoration and nobody should expect anybody to be following them, neither in action nor in spirit. What should we do then?

Crimes against children have to be the worst after murder. The kids are shaped and morphed into what they should most likely grow up as adults by the learning and environment they get during the childhood. These perpetrators destroy that very foundation. Securing our children outside the house may not be completely under our control - be it school, market or any other public place. We must then maintain a very strict, regular vigil on what our wards are doing and what people in and around them are doing. Report any suspicious action immediately. Follow up with higher authorities if there is no redressal. Inform the police and other relevant public authorities if things are still unclear.

I understand and acknowledge that taking out a kid from the school in the middle of a session may not be an easy decision to make since that academic year will most likely be lost. In such a case, we should always keep some other school management in our good books so that the child can be accommodated there in case of any eventuality. It is quite possible that the transfer of school may not work out at all. That is fine. Education lost can be regained with sustained hard-work but mental or physical stigma at childhood are seldom erasable.

Guys, please stand up against the ugly beasts of Horror at Schools in particular and any other crime against kids in general. Educate your near and dear ones, take prompt action and be ready to help.