| Who
is to blame? |
“This is not my job; Aayammas
[housekeeping ladies] are there to do it; they are appointed for this
purpose,so don’t ask me to do this”- this was the reply I received from a
high school student whom I asked to clean the desk scribbled he scribbled on.
I was shocked! After spending significant time with him patiently, I
understood that it is a learnt behaviour. And not only that, later I came to
know from my colleague that he had told her that teachers salary is paid out
of students’ fee, so the teachers have no rights to question students on any
issue. I felt sorry for that poor boy, who has been guided in such a way!
Coming back to the issue of
the attitude of not taking responsibility for the mistake done by the
student- this attitude comes in different forms such as littering the school
premises, dirtying the rest rooms, not keeping back the library books in its
proper place, not putting back the lab equipment, and so on-this is a serious
issue to be addressed! |
Here when the students take rights
to use the materials and place, they also need to take the responsibility to
take care of such things. And this has to be introduced, instilled and
reinforced both by the parents and the teachers. When at home, the students
are allowed to take rights without assuming the responsibilities; they tend
to follow the same at school. For them it is alright to be like this! Such
children might follow the same while they visit their relatives or friends
house. This in his later years is manifested as public nuisance, where people
scribble right royally in buses, trains and monumental places. A general
tendency of dissociation forms with their surroundings.
Social skills don’t mean
just socialising and mingling with everyone, it also means respecting and
accepting responsibilities of public properties. For students this skill has
to start right from school and at home in such a way that they use and treat
the properties and people with respect. For this to happen, a separate
curriculum cannot be designed! This has to be learned parenthetically, in
their primary and secondary socialisation.Rights and responsibilities are
Siamese twins; they do not come without another. |
And sometimes, when the parents
speak ill of the teachers in front of their children, or when the teacher
blames the parents in front of their students, the students understand
clearly that the relationship between their teachers and parents is not so
good!. This may cause discomfort in them and some students may even use this
to play around to take advantage! On the other hand, when the teacher-parent
relationship is smooth and friendly, and when the child feels that, the child
could grow confidently and comfortably.
And this situation is of
adifferent degreein Government schools. There, the teachers’ concern is that
students have no regard for their textbooks and notebooks, because it is
provided to them for free. This unfortunately equates to the materials having
almost no value.
So as a team, when the parents, teachers and the school work together to
swap this behaviour with positive reinforcements, changes can be expected.
Instead of playing the “blame game”, it has to be a coordinated effort! And
most importantly, this team has to be the role model for this to
materialize!
By
Mrs. Jayanthi Ramesh
Corporate trainer & Teacher trainer
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