kaagazkikashti-blog

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“Don’t worry children. I will never  beat you.” - by Shivangi Chopra

Well, Today I’m thirty Having quite seen this world Having met its many people Seen draughts and blizzards

And though I’m a man Well travelled, young and tall Random-Access-Memories Rest within these grey walls

Grey walls that form What I called my school The classes , playground and the teachers That daily hullabaloo!

Teachers –some  fondly revered and some others despised For  those ‘some’ used love , while others chastised.

As the saying goes-“ If you can read today, You must thank all your  teachers.” But to a special one of them, I bow down As she was a true preacher.

It dates  back to class five When we were used to the cane She walked into our class And asked all our names

Too gentle and sweet She was a newbie, for sure No slaps, no canes, no scales She looked quite assured.

Yes! Assured- of the kind of teacher She had sworn to be Austere in appearance But non violent in deed.

She did not teach chapters But lessons for a lifetime Easy in words, her style In sense, sublime.

Experience was her weapon Unlike others of her lot Reverence is what she earned. And a golden spot.

A golden spot- In the hearts of me and my like. Who remember just this teacher Even after such a long time.

Well, Today I’m thirty Having quite seen this world A teacher by profession, I am A free flying bird

The memory of this teacher And the respect that evolved With time has converted Into my professional resolve:

On entering my  class, I make A calm and composed hue, “Don’t worry children. I will never  beat you.”

by Shivangi Chopra <shivangichopra0@gmail.com>

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Rani Ki Kahani:A Terribly Tacit Tale - by Shivangi Chopra

The story below is the story of Rani.

It is the story of our society.

It is the story of thousands of children.

Life was not an easy ride for eight year old Rani. Having lost her mother at the tender age of five, she was burdened with the responsibilities of the household. She lived in a shabby, crowded slum area camouflaged  among the tall skyscrapers of Gurugram, with her father and three brothers. Rani’s father Ram Vilas was a migrant from the village of Dasrathpur in Bihar. With his meager income from his job as a driver, he could manage to send his children to a small school in his neighbourhood. Long working hours did mean that he could spend very little time with his children, but he could do nothing about it. Rani, the eldest among her siblings, had to take up the job as a domestic help at the Sharmas’ who lived nearby.

Mr. & Mrs. Sharma were a beautiful couple. Well satiated with their life; they had indulged in social work after retirement. Mr. Sharma had been a Professor of Mathematics in a nearby college while his Missus had retired as a psychology teacher from a nearby school. Both the academicians had a penchant for teaching and used to take tuition of kids as a service to society. Rani always felt an abstruse relief when she went to the Sharmas’ house .Her face would brighten as Mrs. Sharma would offer her lunch cooked with her own hands. After work, she would joyfully attend her tuition. She could often be seen humming lines of Bhojpuri songs from her hometown or drawing on the blackboard before or after lessons. Her presence amused Mr. and Mrs. Sharma, who considered themselves her godparents.

It was the second week of April. Spring had set in. While gardens blossomed with flowers and beautiful butterflies, Rani’s faced looked gloomy. Mrs. Sharma had been noticing this strange behavioural change in Rani. Not only was she eating very little, but she had also stopped singing and drawing. She wore a grim and dismal look on her face. She barely spoke a word. One day when told by Mrs. Sharma to fetch something from her bedroom (that was blackened out due to a power cut), Rani simply shook her head and sat in a crouched position. With her hands crossed, she wrapped herself in her own arms and lay still. This made Mrs. Sharma worried and confused. On inquiry, she did not utter a word. All she did was point out towards her right arm with her sleeve up. Mrs. Sharma was shocked to see deep red marks which clearly showed infliction of violence upon these tender arms. Mrs. Sharma knew that Rani would not tell her the complete story. So, she maintained silence for that moment and sent Rani back home. She then asked two of her classmates ,whom she tutored ,about Rani’s case. After listening to Rani’s story ,she was shocked and infuriated at the same time.

A week ago, Rani had been beaten with a scale on questioning her Maths teacher regarding a question in the test. On being proven wrong in front of the whole class by Rani, the teacher had developed a kind of abhorrence towards the ill-fated girl. She had been kicked out of the Maths class for a week – only to be locked up in the stores room of the school. When the students mentioned of having heard rumours that Rani had been misbehaved with by a peon in the stores room, Mrs. Sharma was shattered. Tears rolled down her eyes. How could she?      How could she?     That teacher…has she never seen children before?   Is she sadist?  Is she insane?…..She thought and thought but could not get an answer.

Off and on, the image of Rani -whom she loved like her own child, being tormented, flashed in front of her eyes. She immediately went to Ram Vilas and told him the story. Ram Vilas, although as hurtful as Mrs. Sharma herself, refrained from taking an action fearing that the issue might lead to the expulsion of all his children from school. To make him confident of his stand, Mrs. Sharma took him and Rani to an NGO working towards the cause of abolition of corporal punishment, with which she was associated. The NGO filled in the gaps in Rani’s support structure. It’s members explained Rani and Ram Vilas about Article 21, 21A,Right to Education Act and other legal provisions. With proper guidance, now resolute to act, Ram Vilas united with many other parents with similar stories, had a discussion with the teacher and the School Management Committee.They found out that the rumour out the peon had been false.

Not that the punishment has stopped completely but a great change has surely been witnessed.Parents have a say in the system now and are hopeful that they can change the situation for good.

All in all, such a fearless environment is a WIN-WIN situation.

by Shivangi Chopra <shivangichopra0@gmail.com>

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Why should we be worried?  - by Nainika Kumar

UNICEF defines corporal punishment as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.” This includes “smacking, slapping, spanking” children with the hand or with an implement. It is now globally recognized that punishment in any form or kind in school comes in the way of the development of the full potential of children. The more children are hit, the more is the anger they report as adults and the more likely they are to approve of hitting. Corporal punishment leads to adverse physical, psychological and educational outcome. There is an association between corporal punishment meted out to children and maladaptive behavior patterns in later life, such as aggression and delinquency. A chronic pattern of psychological maltreatment destroys a child’s sense of self and personal safety. This is because children due to fear often submit to violence without questioning it. They sometimes show signs of deep hurt but this goes unnoticed, impacting the growth of the children both emotionally and academically. Corporal punishment indirectly affects the society while directly affecting the child as it promotes the message that violence is the appropriate response to conflict which leads to “aggression breeding aggression”. UNICEF suggests that children subjected to physical punishment have been shown to be more likely that others to be aggressive to siblings; to bully other children at school; to take part in aggressively anti-social behavior in adolescence; to be violent to their spouses and their own children and to commit violent crimes. Subtle and covert forms of discrimination are also known to have a negative effect on the emotional and intellectual health of children. Physical punishment models aggression for children as they cannot always understand the difference between unacceptable physical aggression for which they get punished and the physical aggression they receive as punishment. Corporal punishment can also impair emotionally development of children. Children who are verbally or physically abused are more likely to show psychological disturbances. It is shown that corporal punishments do not improve students’ in-school behavior or academic performance as these punishments lead students to frequently withdraw from school activities and disengage academically. Corporal punishments is a destructive form of disciple that is ineffective in producing education environments in which students can thrive.

by Nainika Kumar <kumarnai@msu.edu>

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‘Beginning of Kaagaz ki Kashti’ by Prerit Rana

I have a daughter aged seven(Besides recently born twins!). She has never been slapped; neither at school nor at home. So what? Yes, I also would have taken that for granted unless that moment last year which shocked me to the core. But, I think I needed another shock to come up with a full fledged initiative to stop corporal punishment in schools of India.

We, at Agrasar, were in celebration mode with admissions of 17 children in a government school. It was the first batch of our children that was mainstreamed after being taught through a bridge course. "Prerit, the children we mainstreamed in the government school are beaten daily. It's been a week now and they are being beaten every single day. All of them." - a colleague shared with a sombre mood on one of the mornings. In my effort to behave like a CEO in a moment of "failure", I asked with a straight face - "Why?". But, then I did not hear the response, because I myself realized that "Why" does not matter. What matters is that the children are being beaten. I was shattered. "We got the children admitted into schools after showing so much promise. And, this is what they really got. How will I even face Nandini - a child who looks a lot similar to Unnati - my seven year old?" - I pondered. It had become quite evident to us in a few weeks that corporal punishment is common in many of the government schools of Gurugram. Gurugram - the village of teachers.

We decided to take this up with the government school teachers. We did. I got to know after a few days that beating has stopped. Never got any news there after. May be I never specifically asked and my colleagues got busy in day to day struggles of working in the community.  

After nearly a year, in April 2017, we got the opportunity to work inside the government school premises. Four of our teachers started going to two schools in the city on daily basis. The issue resurfaced again. One of our bright and bubbly teachers was looking sad for around a week. I asked - "What happened to you?". And, she says - "Sir, children are being beaten daily. By many teachers. And, girls ki to skirt utha kar dande maarte hein". Ah.. I instantly suggested them to try and make a video. And, these brave team members of mine actually did that the very next day.

I saw the video. That was the turning point. "We must act now" was the only thought, and a movement was launched. Hearing about something is different, but watching it with your own eyes is something completely different. First thing I did was to share my pain in public through a facebook post. And, I was audacious enough to announce the launch of a movement against corporal punishment. Hundreds of people instantly joined hands in solidarity. I did not share the video in public as I did not want a 'flash in the pan' kind of event. We don't want to get viral, we want to get rid of this virus.

Around 15 of us met. Deliberated and come up with the idea of having a multi-pronged approach of supporting as well as checking the teachers against corporal punishment.

The very next day I went to one of the schools and met the alleged perpetrators. This is how I naturally began my conversation -

"हम सब को बचपन का एक खिलौना ज़रूर याद होगा. वह है 'कागज़ की कश्ती'. बारिश हुई नहीं की हम कश्तियाँ बना कर, जहां भी पानी मिला तैरा दिया करते थे. बहुत ख़ुशी मिलती थी जब वह तैरती जाती थी. उम्मीद रहती थी की वह दूर तक जाएगी. लेकिन कभी कभी कागज़ से बनी वह कश्ती तेज़ बौछार सहन नहीं कर पाती थी. या फिर किसी गाडी के पहिये के तले कुचली जाती थी.

ऐसा महसूस होता है की हमारा बचपन भी एक कागज़ की कश्ती की तरह ही है. बहुत उमीदों से भरा, लेकिन उतना ही नाज़ुक. कश्ती नुमा इस बचपन को संभाल कर रखना और संवारना हम सब की ज़िम्मेदारी है. स्कूलों में भय मुक्त वातावरण रखना इसकी एक महत्वपूर्ण कड़ी है."

And, in the night, while conceptualizing the movement, I intuitively titled it - "Kaagaz ki Kashti". Shared my thought with all those who showed solidarity. Everybody loved/ liked or at least agreed with the title and the approach.

Many of us are now building up the 'kashti' piece by piece. Somebody is contributing to the strategy. Others writing for the website.  A research student helping us put the knowledge base together. An IAS friend supporting me in understanding the relevant government ecosystem. A young intern planning for a street play to highlight the issue in the community. A corporate friend developing the strategy to engage corporate volunteers in the movement. A colleague from Agrasar leading the research apart from her regular job role in Agrasar.

Our ‘Kaagaz ki Kashti' is blessed to have people like you who are so passionate about making a change. It shall sail.  

Sincerely, Prerit

Prerit can be reached at prerit@agrasar.org

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‘Alternatives to corporal punishment?’ by Shabbir Haider

by Shabbir Haider <shabbir1haider@gmail.com>

Some thoughts to ponder on:

Apparently, Corporal Punishment is a world-wide phenomenon. It's being fought against, just like many other forms of discrimination are being fought against. There aren't being many victories though. That's sad. And real.

Pink Floyd sang about it in 1979:

We don't need no education We don't need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave them kids alone Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone All in all it's just another brick in the wall

Down the years, all the kids who were punished have grown up to be adults and they know how bad it is. And yet they do not allow the painful memory of their childhood to inspire them to protect other innocent young lives.

Case in point:

"It seems that Saarthak Singh, one of my students in the department, and I have both received corporal punishment from the SAME math teacher at school. I am a quarter century older than Saarthak!"- Anish Goel, HOD, ....... University, Department of English on Facebook. (Identities hidden)

Question is: Why?

Why does society tolerate violence against those who are weak? A common thread binds corporal punishment with violence against women, against the LGBT community, against the poor and the underprivileged, against those less in number.

Why does society glorify violence and how do we make society see differently from the way they have been used to seeing things since time immemorial: that is the question we have set out to answer.

Society is violent because it instinctively knows it lives in utter danger. That it is essentially located on the surface of a rotating ball of condensed lava revolving around a giant ball of fire with constant possibility of a giant stone crushing it to nothingness in matter of seconds.

Society is violent because one small group of people, or microscopic organisms can, and have, created unspeakable havoc and horror.

Hence, the society seeks security. order. discipline.

It allays its fears by unfurling all its authority and frustrations and helplessness on those it can crush: the women, the children and the deviants.

Schools are by design supposed to maintain an environment of utmost discipline and order because they are by mandate there to churn out perfect employees.

Do we speak about the extent of violence prevalent in workplace the world over? Why are bosses stereotyped the world over as 'bad'?

Schools are being honest in what they are doing with children and the way they are doing it.

A teenagers basic instinct in teenage is to listen to the heart and not to the mind. Do we expect him/her to wage a war against the hormones? Yet, they have to crack the the IITs and the PMTs at this age. What does one do?

So when we go to the teachers and the parents and ask them to never take recourse to violence, physical or verbal, while dealing with their kids: What is the alternative which we have on offer?

I believe I am still swimming in shallow waters here. There is much more depth which I can sense but can't capture.

will keep pondering... and sharing...

by Shabbir Haider <shabbir1haider@gmail.com>

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‘Strong Children or Broken Men’ by Parthasarathi Chakrabarti

by Parthasarathi Chakrabarti <partho.sarathi.c@gmail.com> 

I remember my days in a missionary residential school years back. Many memories are great, that of friends, playing football in torrential rain, the mischief we engaged in at times stealing raw mangoes from the orchard or skipping school with an excuse of a bad tummy to play ping pong. But I shudder in disgust whenever I remember the beatings we got for insignificant little things such as getting late for an official function or writing poetry in study time. I wonder what does it take for a fully grown middle aged man to unleash such barbaric thrashing on a 12 year old child. Is it some kind of a psychological problem or sheer frustration?

Corporal punishment in any form has been banned by the Indian government in 2010 by the Ministry of Woman and Child Development. Consequently the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had issued guidelines for eliminating corporal punishment in schools. The CBSE had also issued strong warnings to schools against any form of corporal punishment. In spite of all these, corporal punishment still exists and is practiced - ironically the most in government schools. This is an unfortunate state of affairs and needs to be addressed in priority by the government without any compromise.

What is corporal punishment?

The UNICEF Committee on the Rights of the Child in the General Comment No. 8 defines ‘corporal’ or ‘physical’ punishment as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light. Most involves hitting (“smacking”, “slapping”, “spanking”) children, with the hand or with an implement – a whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon, etc. But it can also involve, for example, kicking, shaking or throwing children, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or boxing ears, forcing children to stay in uncomfortable positions, burning, scalding or forced ingestion (for example, washing children’s mouths out with soap or forcing them to swallow hot spices). In the view of the Committee, corporal punishment is invariably degrading.

In addition, there are other non-physical forms of punishment that are also cruel and degrading and thus incompatible with the Convention. These include, for example, punishment which belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares or ridicules the child.”

http://unicef.in/Story/197/All-You-Want-to-Know-About-Corporal-Punishment

The point to note is the emphasis on the phrase “however light”. In any circumstance and in whatever form, any act that causes even the slightest humiliation or pain to a child, can be interpreted as corporal punishment.

Why should we be worried?

Only a handful of incidences have come into the limelight in the last few years from across the country, where instances of corporal punishment has led to the deaths of pre-teen children.

http://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/class-8-boy-allegedly-beaten-to-death-by-teacher-at-bengal- school-1275481

http://www.ndtv.com/telangana-news/9-year-old-died-after-punishment-in-telangana-school-allege- parents-784453

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/8-year-old-dies-after-allegedly-being-beaten-by-school-principal- over-stolen-pen-753463

One incident is particularly telling since it involves a 7 year old child who was beaten up by a leather belt for not doing her homework! http://www.ndtv.com/bangalore-news/class-2-girl-beaten-by- leather-belt-allegedly-for-not-doing-homework-1440039

But this obviously is only the tip of the iceberg, to use a cliché. There is rampant instances of this across schools, both private and government, which doesn’t even come to the notice of the press, public or even the parents. Do we really have to wait to take notice and act only when the ultimate happens? Does a child have to die to get justice and freedom from corporal punishment?

Corporal Punishment can leave indelible marks on the psyche of the child which can hamper her mental and physical growth and scar her for life. The pain and the agony manifests into various psychological conditions such as phobia, low self-esteem, anxiety, somatic complaints, depression leading to suicidal tendencies, school drop-outs, aggression, delinquency and other maladaptive behaviours. Corporal Punishment destroys a child’s sense of self and personal safety (NCPCR) and have a negative effect on the emotional and intellectual health of a child (NCPCR).

Do we really want to become a nation where a large number of people who will play a major role in the development and growth of the country grow up with such major psychological issues?

What is being done?

The NCPCR guidelines elaborates primarily three types of corporal punishments, physical, mental and discrimination and goes on to elaborate what are different perceptions and consequences of corporal punishment and what are the legal provisions internationally and in India.

There are some confusions in the legal provisions where apparently some section (88?) of the IPC gives freedom to a headmaster or guardian of a child to inflict punishment as long as the reason is JUSTIFIABLE! Thankfully, there are many other sections which totally prohibit any such action by anybody, but it is high time that even the slightest of such discrepancies are eliminated from the legal books.

What needs to be done?

Though it is amply clear that the Indian Constitution and Laws have taken into account the grievousness of corporal punishments and created provisions to check and eventually eliminate it, the enforcement

of the laws is still very weak, especially in government schools. There are various groups and NGOs who are actively working against such practices, whenever any such incident or school comes to their notice, but it is not really their job. It is the government itself who needs to implement strict codes of conduct and serious punishments against any such offence for all their school staff. Any form of beating, punishment or harassment should invite serious repercussions without compromise, even threatening to terminate the career of any violator. Unless such actions are taken in full public eye, these acts will not be curbed. The media should also play an active role in exposing any such schools or individuals so the public are more aware of places they send their children to.

To conclude, let me quote Frederick Douglass aptly in this context: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” This should be the overarching thought behind a constant effort towards eliminating corporal punishment in any form from schools, homes and all other places. The damage this does to the child in his formative years is most often than not, irreparable. If this practice is not abolished, the future of this nation and the world as a whole will be in dire straits. In the end humanity is bound to suffer.

by Parthasarathi Chakrabarti <partho.sarathi.c@gmail.com>