Thoughts Decoded

Today parents –all of us — want child only to be the first in the class in studies, in sports, in extra curricular activities and put enormous pressure on the children. All parents want their children to study hard and become first-graders, cut-off admission percentages in most colleges for decent courses is now in the range of 90% and above, schools are now not educating children in readying them for life but rather readying them for the IITs and top-notch colleges.

Our whole system of parenting, bringing up, education, etc. is so entrenched in “me becoming better than the other“, that it creates insecurity in children, and then try have them see security in studying better and making something from their lives. There is an extraordinary sense of sadness in this whole structure.

This endless race to become the best. There can be only one winner in a 100-meter race, and we all want our children to be this winner. Yet life is not about 100-meter races; it is a long-marathon, just to make an inept sort of comparison, between running and life. Why should every child be reared in order to achieve success in some profession that is perceived by us, ‘normal’ human beings, as a successful one? What is real success? Was Albert Einstein a failure? Were Agatha Christie, Leonardo da Vinci failures?

Most adults start off with a prejudice when it comes to their children’s education. They insist that the children’s success depends on the percentages they obtain in the academic report cards. This attitude has to be turned upside down – in some cases at least.The kid like a robot gets up early in the morning and goes through the preset programmes till he goes to sleep. He has no time of his own. The parents play the role of keepers, they judge the kids through the prism of school marks; they have no idea about the talent of their own kid. Without their knowledge they put a barrier to kids’ free thinking.

There is one good movie Taare Zameen par it’s a movie about a child, an eight- or nine-year old boy. Ishan, the boy, The movies movie gives the reawakening of the realisation that every child is a potential star; the realisation that a little more effort on our part can make this world a lot better; the realisation that you can make a difference – if you really wish.in movie the teachers ridicule & dismiss boy
off as an “idiot”, who is genuinely ‘mischievous’, ‘lazy’ & probably with no aptitute for academics. With a demanding father who wants of sculpt the child into the mould of his ‘achiever’ elder brother, a mother who though loves him is overwhelmed by whatever he does; the kid is sent of to
boarding school. Here too the child builds up a reputation, but now with no family for support he withdraws into himself leaving, giving up his sole vent of expression painting.
Walk-in a sensitive art teacher, Aamir Khan & the child’s world turns around. Who discovers and nurtures his hidden talent painting, thus raising up his self-confidence that had been mercilessly beaten down by the ‘normal’ educational system.

But its not everytime such art teacher character comes to the child’s world. The question is the validity of our normal perceptions about the world. Why should every child be competitive?