We may have been thanking technology for making our lives easy and comfortable but it has also affected our lives in a negative manner and the most affected are the kids of today.
A student of Class VII went online and posted a threat message of raping his teacher and her daughter and this happened in a very famous school of Gurugram. The daughter of the teacher and the boy are in the same class. While in another incident, a student of class VIII wrote a mail to his teacher and asked her to go out with him on a candle light dinner date, ending up in sex.
These two incidents took place last week and the teacher who was threatened has returned to school but her daughter is too afraid to attend the school.
The name of the school has not been disclosed in order to protect the identity of teachers and students.
School issued a statement in which it said,
“This is an incident involving a lower middle school student allegedly indulging in an offensive and highly objectionable cyber prank involving a teacher. A thorough investigation was carried out and stern action was taken, including suspension along with mandated counselling. The school has a zero-tolerance policy towards such acts.”
However, Shakuntala Dhull, the child welfare committee chairperson, has taken the suo motu cognizance of both the incidents. She said,
“A notice will be sent to the school and children. They will be called and asked about the entire incident. Counselling sessions will be taken of the school authorities, including the teachers and kids.”
The leading daily TOI talked to many school principals and majority of them said that it is not just the only incident; it is the dissatisfaction and frustration that is increasing in the students and parents need to play more proactive role with their kids at home.
Ankita Makkar, principal of HDFC School, said,
“Today, kids are exposed to so many gadgets that they tend to get aggressive. We don’t know what they are watching or the sites they are visiting.”
Arti Chopra, principal of Amity International School said,
“The child must have been uncomfortable, secluded at home, and not able to talk to anyone. These are the outbursts of such students who are emotionally not strong. They are not brought up in the right manner by the parents.”
Some other emphasize on making counselling as part of the curriculum.
Sumeet Nath, administrator of institutions Baptist Church Trust Association (BCTA), stated,
“There should be policy-level intervention by the government and all stakeholders, wherein experts counsel students as part of the curriculum and an open dialogue is started with this generation regarding handling of issues, which our conservative society wants to brush under the carpet.”
While this is the opinion of Shweta Sharma, clinical psychologist, Columbia Asia Hospital,
“Teachers are very satisfied in teaching good and bad touch to students but don’t know how to handle kids. Most of the schools in the city don’t have proper counsellors. There are no counselling sessions for teachers. A different approach is needed to teach students today. Teachers should move beyond books and try to know what is going on in the mind of the child.”
Counselling psychologist of Prarambh, Radhika Radhakrishnan, said,
“We need to control what the kids are watching, keep a tab on their internet activity. Parents need to get involved.”
We do agree with the views given above and parents also need to be more proactive in their approach. What do you say?