Saturday 30 June 2012

Nine strokes to rear a child


We all talk tall about getting ourselves educated. Education, as we know, equips us with certain privileges and teaches us to contribute to the society which we live in. But what do we mean by Contribution? Does it mean something materialistic like helping someone or some organization financially? Or does it mean something spiritual like spreading peace and harmony throughout the world by doing something good for the society? There are certain facts which are relevant to focus the meaning of Contribution.
1.Education
 Our education starts from our family and parents play a major role there. Children love their parents from the core of their heart. They admire them and imitate each and every action of their parents. But after sometime they also judge them. Every parent wants his child to be successful and success , in the contemporary set-up, implies material possessions and social recognition. So the parents ,mostly force their children to lose their way in the congested traffic of the breathless generation .A child can choose from the options given to him but selection of options needs guidance. A child is like a ship without a compass and the voyage may end in disaster. So the parents must brace themselves for the insecurity of their child being overstressed and feeling paralyzed to keep pace with the fast-moving world .They should justify the ends and the means as nwell.
2.End and means
The question of end and means has long been debated through the ages. A character in a novel by Anatole France said that if the path is strewn with flowers, he would never care for the destination. Machiavelli thought that the end justifies the means. Mahatma Gandhi’s   opinion, on the other hand, was that if the means is not good, the end, however profitable, cannot be good. In the Bible, we have the saying “What profit do you have if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?”This question has to be considered by the parent who seeks success for his child.
3.Success  versus happiness
Now what do we mean by success? Is it earning bucks in billions? Is it rejoicing over owning several cars or several houses? Is it being the most powerful person in the world? Or is it getting name and fame all over the world and being a celebrity? To me, success is something which leads to a happy contented life .Discontent is the main hurdle in the path of success. If we are happy with the minimum gadgets which can provide us a comfortable life and can fulfill our basic needs, why should we bother for more and more? So while bringing up their children, the parents must try to plant the seeds of contentment in their children so that they can sprout up in a better world without keeping up with Joneses.
4.Self-discipline
While rearing the child, parents must practice self-discipline so that the child can also be disciplined .If the parent himself is a drug-addict, how can he expect his child to be normal? Imitation is the best way of admiration, they say. The child admires his parent and would repeat doing whatever he finds his father doing. The parents should get rid of all the bad habits before they expect their children to behave.They have to make sacrifices and practice self-discipline in guiding the child correctly.
5.School
After family, the child gets his education from the school he joins. In school, he is externally educated. He acquires knowledge about the vast world. For this the school management and the teachers play a major role in his life. The school management must follow a better curriculum to quench the child’s thirst for knowledge. Instead of minting money in the name of spreading education, the management should thrust a practical approach to education. The child must get involved in the learning process. Workshops for the teachers must be arranged for the continuous improvement and development in the teaching methods .However, the management must look at the soothing environment provided to the teachers. The workshops must not be held on the holidays. The school management should divide the teachers into groups and hold the seminars and workshops on school-days only.
6.Curriculum
The school must follow a curriculum which can pave the way for all-round development of a child. Every individual is not a photocopy of the other one. He or she has some distinction and hidden talent to distinguish himself or herself from the other individual. The school must see to it and help in deciding the right path the child should opt for. The child may not be good at Mathematics, but is superb in graphics. The school must be equipped with all the facilities to provide teaching varieties of subjects. The strength of the students of the school may be less , but the quality must not be compromised.
7.Teacher
The link between the child and the school is the teacher who becomes the icon for the child throughout his life. The interaction between a child and a teacher fills the vacuum about the vast universe in the child’s mind. So the teacher must be friendly in his or her approach so that the child can unravel the mystery of this world with the help of the teacher, without any fear .The teacher who is strict yet affectionate can win the child’s heart. He or she must come down to the level of the child and help him or her to solve the problem.
8.Values
Earning a livelihood is not the only motto of a child .The parents and the teachers must bring forth the eternal values and see that the child is able to overcome all the hurdles in his /her life with a positive attitude .Above all he/she should be a good human being who can reach his goals without hurting others and can be sincere and honest to his rights and duties.
9.Self-confidence
Without self –confidence, everything is going to be a flop. So everyone who is concerned about the child should inspire him for betterment and motivate him for a better perspective. The child should get chances to improve because success is like the sweet nectar ,if achieved can quench our thirst in a minute and if not can let ourselves toil for years to get a sip.
After  going through all these steps, a child becomes a full-fledged man to contribute to the society he lives in and if he is able to adhere to all the good qualities of life like tolerance ,compassion and honesty , he can spread the message of peace and harmony all over the world without any selfish ends.



2 comments:

  1. I really like the way you have written this article. You really deserve attention from other people too. I strongly recommend you take writing seriously and get work published.....
    thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot for your inspiring words.

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