Schoolhouse rock

There8217;sS a right way and a wrong way to respond to the shootout at a Gurgaon school, which resulted in the death of a 14-year-old student. Instant parallels between the Gurgaon incident and the periodic shooting incidents that have taken place in American schools may appear compelling but are essentially inapt. The circumstances and social forces in a society where on a typical day at least 100,000 pupils carry guns are necessarily far removed from those prevailing in semi-rural Gurgaon.

At the same time, we need to recognise that Indian society today is undergoing change at a pace that we haven8217;t yet fathomed. In the Gurgaon tragedy, we see rural prosperity meld seamless with global aspirations and the stability of traditional family structures being replaced by ties that are rather less stable. Children of this generation are far more likely to be more prosperous than those of the earlier one, more exposed to the media and the violence it regularly features, more prone to substance abuse and less likely to be involved in physical activities like games. They are also certainly more lonely and under greater pressure to perform than were their parents. A 2002 VIMHANS study of Delhi8217;s schoolchildren concluded that four out of every 10 urban teenagers showed signs of being depressed and under stress. It also flagged a disturbing rise in tobacco and alcohol addiction. These are changes that need to be acknowledged, not evaded. It is only with acknowledgement that the right responses can emerge 8212; from parents, teachers, school authorities and society at large. Knee-jerk measures like turning schools into fortresses cannot be the way forward. Nuanced action that addresses endemic juvenile anger and alienation would prove to be far more effective in the long term.

Together with this is the need for a rational gun control regime. The laws and regulations governing the gun market appear to provide the checks against small arms falling into the wrong hands, but in actual fact allow those in power, or close to power, to access them quite easily. In an age when possessing a gun has become a fashion statement, this is an extremely serious concern.