MnM wrote:
As part of the Mapusa based, Child Rights Group, Roland Martins persuaded Gerard to file a simple complaint with the Mapusa police. Gerard did and the complaint was used as a basis to take the matter up with the school. Mario represented the Delaneys in the official enquiry that followed with regular hearings that lasted a few months. Result: the master was suspended and has not set foot in St. Britto's again, thus saving generations of students expensive dental treatment for life!
As far as this goes,I think it has a lot to do with our ideas of what is the "right" and "wrong" approach to bring up children.
These days, it's fashionable to be liberal and give in a lot to children. In our times, we grew up with a lot of strictness, particularly in a Jesuit institution like Brittos. Yet, I bear absolutely no grudge against the institution and our teachers, and in fact feel grateful that it taught me a great many things in life.
A lot of parents speak out against "corporal" punishment in schools today, and would term it abuse. Personally, I feel the teachers need to have some leeway to operate, even as we parents appreciate how difficult it can be to get across a point across to a child in these times -- when the kids get bombarded with all kinds of messages.
Is a rap on the knuckles more harmful than a remark in the calendar which scars a child in emotional ways? Is it better to correct a child on time, rather than fail him in Std VIII and have a suicide before you know it? (One such case was reported in the neighbouring village of Parra last month-end.)
Whatever happened to the spare-the-rod ... logic :-) Or do we have fashions-of-the-day in child rearing too? (Apparently Benjamin Spock is not treated with much respect nowadays, someone who knows better could clarify.)
The teacher mentioned in the above case was my teacher too. He was a good scoutmaster and PT teacher, if a bit on the strict side. (Those of us who were pushed out from Lourdes Convent at Std VI/VII for a compulsory migration to some place like Britto's know of how 'indiscipline' on the ground was treated -- five rounds around the football ground!)
I think teachers are much more patient when they're younger, but perhaps the school-routine results in burnout and cycnicism over the years! Something needs to be done to make their work less soul-killing! FN
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