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Samuel Venkatesan was looking forward to the summit. Not just because he’d rub shoulders with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but because he was going to advocate a cause that was dear to his heart. At the Junior 8 summit which ran alongside the G8 meet in Italy last year, the teenager screened his film on corporal punishment.
Mercilessly beaten in school, the boy from Shoolaigiri, a small village in Tamil Nadu, wanted his 10-minute film to help sensitise teachers and parents. “I have gone through it and don’t want my fellow students to face the ordeal,” says Venkatesan, who studies visual communications at Loyola College, Chennai.
Venkatesan is lucky, for he’s lived to tell the tale. Calcutta boy Rouvanjit Rawla, caned by his principal, took his own life four months ago. Yet, corporal punishment is not the only form of torture that students go through in school. Even being ignored, ridiculed, humiliated or bullied can traumatise them.
“Negative humiliating experiences could at times leave deep imprints that tamper with the child’s growth and development,” says Dr Sanjay Chugh, a senior psychiatrist in Delhi.
These are some of the real-life spectres that haunt school children:
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TEACHER TYRANNY
Sanjana Dutta may never forget her first day in school. She was three — and hit on the head by her teacher for weeping uncontrollably. Her parents pulled her out of the day boarding school in Delhi a fortnight after she’d joined it.
“Instead of understanding the child’s emotional outburst and handling her more tenderly, the teacher’s presence became a trauma for her,” says her father, Sarvanu Dutta. The school offered to change her section — and thereby the teacher — but she refused to go back. “We had no choice but to change her school,” says Dutta.
But not everyone can do that. Naina Ramesh, who studies in a prominent boarding school in Kerala, says that caning is a regular feature there. “Using ruler on knuckles is the teacher’s favourite,” she says.
And this despite the National Policy on Education (1986, modified 1992) which states that corporal punishment will be “firmly excluded” from educational systems. “Any kind of punishment in school is illegal,” says Sara Poelhman, officer-in charge, education, Unicef.
Only a handful of states — including Kerala and West Bengal — have prohibited corporal punishment in schools. “The laws are in place but who can change the mindset of the teachers,” questions Onkar Sadhan Adhikari, president, West Bengal Council for Higher Secondary Education.
But it’s not only being beaten that hurts. Teachers who are disdainful of some and partial to others can also lead to trauma among students. “This could affect the child’s confidence since teachers are their role models and their perception is of value to the students,” says Dr Chugh.
PEER PRESSURE
This can take any form — from not having a girlfriend to listening to the Beatles when the others are into the Black Eyed Peas. According to Dr Samir Parikh, head of department, mental healthcare, Max Healthcare Hospital, Delhi, peer pressure arises when a child is compelled to do something because of what is happening to others in the age group. “It could be anything from procuring the latest gadget to listening to a particular genre of music,” says Dr Parikh.
Not being one of the gang leads to worries about being sidelined. “Children are afraid of being isolated,” explains Dr Gargi Bandopadhyay, child and adolescent psychiatrist from Calcutta. “They need to prove themselves to everybody from teachers to peers and parents,” she adds. Many succumb to peer pressure, but a few crumble under it. Suicides triggered by the trauma of not being a part of peer groups is on the rise, warn experts.
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BIG BULLY
A 14-year-old boy was shot five times on his forehead in an international school in a Delhi suburb two years ago. The two culprits who killed the teenager were his classmates and wanted to teach the “class bully” a lesson.
According to a recent study released by UK’s leading bullying prevention charity Beatbullying, about 44 per cent of suicides by children between 10 and 14 years of age are triggered by bullying. “Unfortunately, no significant studies have been done in India on this matter,” says Lilly Vishwanthan, senior programme manager-advocacy, Plan India, a child welfare organisation involved with education. “Bullying, along with corporal punishment and sexual violence, is a prime reason why children drop out of school,” she adds.
Heena Garsia, principal, Bhawanipur Education Society, remembers an occasion when a boy went to school in an expensive pair of shoes. “Some of the other boys were possibly jealous and after school they made him take off his shoes. They destroyed the shoes and made sure that he went home barefoot,” says Garsia.
“The most common problem, besides the pressure to perform in academics, is standing up to a bully,” Dr Chugh says. “Teachers and parents should be alert to any signs of bullying and not hesitate to step in and counsel both the victim and the aggressor,” adds Dr Parikh.
AIDING ABUSE
A study on child abuse conducted by the ministry of women and child development indicates that one out of two children in school has faced sexual abuse. The Study on Child Abuse: India 2007 says students — more boys than girls — face various forms of sexual abuse, ranging from inappropriate touch and exposure to pornography to violent sexual assault.
“The abuser is usually from the peer group, an older student or a staff member,” says Pranaadhika Sinha Dev Burman, founder president of Elaan, a Calcutta-based NGO dealing with child sexual abuse. “Sexual abuse is more prevalent in same sex schools.”
Most schools now have counsellors to tackle such issues. “Owing to societal pressure to perform and the breakdown of families, the emotional strain on a child is far higher. We need to channelise their energies in a positive manner,” says Shyam Narayan Banerjee, principal, Hindu School, Calcutta.
DIFFERENT DEALS
Shivani Sood (name changed) didn’t have it easy in school. She had a lisp when it came to pronouncing words with an ‘s’ in them and was teased by her classmates. “Before I said anything, I would first make sure that there was no ‘s’ in what I had to say. But friends would fool me into saying something. So I became a quiet child,” she says.
Students often ridicule or humiliate somebody who is different — too fat or dark, with a speech impediment or an introvert. Jayati Solomon, principal, South Point High School, Calcutta, recounts the case of a child who had a speech and writing problem. “The student was segregated by classmates and often ragged. Once he retaliated and hit a child. This later turned more violent as a group of students cornered this child on the streets and punched him,” says Solomon. The school intervened, called upon the parents of both the children and counselled the children.
The education department is doing what it can to make academics stress-free. But is school life only about academics? Experts believe that the fear which lurks beyond the books is what needs to be tackled.
