Hey! Parents! Leave the kids alone!

Here in India, convent education is considered superior and most parents hanker for seats for their kids in such schools. I had the privilege of studying in one and I can proudly say that I did learn some of the best manners and skills, be it language, leadership or otherwise. But there has to be something the other way round right?

I have grown up with several nuns in my 12 years of schooling and there is so much to look up to them for. Yet, when in class 4, I had a teacher, Sister Albina. No offence meant, but she had all the qualities starkly opposite to what a nun was supposed to have! She carried this menacingly looking bamboo cane and the minute someone said 2*2 was 5, she was doomed. 5 strokes on her back and the rest of the day was quite literally gone!

Somehow, many parents came to the entire class’s rescue and we did away with her. Now, coming to the main question - If teachers physically hurt us, parents come to our rescue. If parents hurt us? In my mother tongue there is this proverb which means, boys have to be hit and brought up, while girls have to be treasured! I don’t know who came up with this proverb, but I sure can’t go by its words.

I have been witness to many parents hammering their kids just because they dint get enough marks, or created a huge ruckus in a shopping mall, bringing embarrassment to them and so on. My whole point is why hit them? If you weren’t sane enough to talk to them and advice them as to how to behave in front of others, or told them that competition was good but it was not about getting higher marks than the neighbours’ kids, you have absolutely no rights to put your hands on them!

To make the embarrassment worse for parents, I’ve seen kids who actually retaliate and whack their parents! Why all this torment, for both the child and the parents? Even if the kid wants to lodge a complaint against the torturing parents, there exists a worse fear; at least in our country; the kid may walk into the station and be sexually molested even!

This is not an article to find loopholes in our system, but to reiterate on some basics. Just like how charity begins at home, all our mannerisms, values and so on are moulded at home first. There are ways other than whipping your child to mend her/his ways - Speaking is also an action!!!