Mama8217;s blues

The next day I read a piece in a national newspaper about how indifferent the Ministry of Human Resources and Development is about corporal punishment in schools. That for nine months they had not replied to a P.I.L. filed in the High Court where the prayer was to ban all corporal punishment in Delhi schools. It got one thinking why just Delhi, all schools throughout the nation, indeed the world should ban corporal punishment8217;. Discipline is the primary responsibility of parents and physical punishment in my opinion is abuse. I have never been hit as a child and I8217;ve maintained the same unspoken code, of never raising a hand on my son not a slap, smack or tap. When a little reasoning and understanding can turn most situations around why does a parentneed to use physical means of discipline. I want every parent who has ever raised their hand on their offspring to be completely honest and say that none of their own frustrations or anger ever gave vent in that action. Why do we as a nation use physical means of punishing our children? How often has one seen staff, raising a hand in imitation of the child8217;s parent?

This indifference to corporal punishment must stop. Violence only begets violence. We must spare the rod, as it leaves not physical but psychological scars that last a lifetime. A child who is consistently punished eventually does not fear punishment, becomes a rebel and finally even a renegade. Overt expressions of love, cuddling and kissing, do not form part of our culture, not even with our children, so how dare overt expressions of anger manifest itself in physical violence. It may sound Utopian but I would love to see all our children showered with love, affection, a gentle nurturing from the home to school and in the community, we mustrespect our junior citizen as we do our seniors. They are but little guests who leave once they make their own lives.

The last few weeks have also highlighted suicide pacts by lovers both in Mumbai and Delhi. What a horrific tragic waste of youth. In both cases the boy and girl were barely in their twenties with all of life to look forward to. Yet they chose to end their lives in a slow motion painful gut wrenching way why? No civilized society can ignore this cry for help. Our teenagers and youth are constantly being invaded by the electronic media bombarding them with artificial rituals of violence, escapism and farce. The reality check is that they are caught in a cross cultural time warp and freedom eventually comes at the ultimate price of death. What of discipline? What of love? When eventually their only escape hatch from oppression, whether parental or societal, is death. The joy of parenthood is universal, the extreme tailspin pain of losing a child is heart rending. I weep with the parents ofthese four lost young souls. If I had to apportion blame it would be to a callous, careless oppressive society that has hypocrisy and lies, innuendo and gossip at its base. We allowed the unnecessary deaths of these youth because we failed to hear their silent cries for help. They took their lives because they had no one to talk their pain through with, someone who could be understanding and would actually help. It may be too late for these youngsters but let8217;s take a pledge that as parents, perhaps and small step in the right direction to building a caring sharing society is to firmly demand legislation banning corporal punishment in schools. Let us all be more aware of the needs of our youth they are not just our future and hope, each of them carries in them our own sad youth mirrored by a useless sense of discipline. Let us give our youth the highest priority and make their world a better place. I salute you my young friends, my son! 8212; Chill!