By M L Satyan
Coimbatore, Jan 23, 2025: I was deeply disturbed while watching a video in WhatsApp sent by a professor in Kerala.
It shows a Plus One student in a government higher secondary school at Anakkara in Palakkad issuing a death threat to a teacher. The student’s anger was sparked when the teacher confiscated his mobile phone for violating the school’s strict ‘no-phone policy.’ Sitting in front of the school principal the student threatened to kill the teacher if he stepped out of the school.
My mind recalled a horrific incident that took place at Nanguneri in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district on August 9, 2023. Six youngsters from a dominant caste allegedly attacked a 17-year-old Scheduled Caste student and his younger sister with sickles at their home.
According to the police, all of them were students at a government-aided school.
Chinnadurai, the victim was subjected to harassment at school by the other students belonging to dominant caste. They asked him to buy cigarettes and snacks and bullied him. Fearing harassment, Chinnadurai had stopped going to school. When the school principal found out the reason, he summoned all the students and gave them a strict warning.
On the fateful evening, the Dalit student was warned of dire consequences by the accused persons. Later in the night, they barged into his house and attacked him with sickles. This incident has revealed the bitter truth that a section of students was unnecessarily indulging in caste-related issues within the school campus.
One of the seven crimes about which Mahatma Gandhiji mentioned was “Education without character.” We have witnessed in the past numerous cases of crimes committed by school and college students. Some frightening headlines were:
• A college student killed his lover and classmate since he was cheated by them.
• Gun culture is found in Gurgaon, Bhopal and Patna schools.
• A high school girl student killed her grandmother since she refused to give her pocket-money.
• A 17-year-old girl student killed her classmate on study related issues.
• A college student in Delhi killed his mother and elder sister since they did not give him money for his personal expenses.
• A college boy in Pune kidnapped a child and demanded 100,000 rupees from the child’s parents.
• A college girl was stabbed to death by her boyfriend
• A class 12 student eloped with a lady teacher
• 19 students have committed suicide in 4 years in Tamil Nadu due to NEET exam
• Young students becoming drug addicts is a serious concern today
Unfortunately, a vast majority of people do not take such news seriously. The above students may be literate but not educated. These students can be called “uneducated literates.”
Today “Character Building” is not a priority for most educational institutions. Instead of functioning as temples of wisdom, they have become centers of business. They just boast of achieving 100 percent academic results. Can any educational institution truly claim that they have produced men and women of characters?
The purpose of education is not just literacy – i. e. making students learn how to read and write. Education goes beyond literacy. As we all know, the ultimate objective of education is “character building.” Education must shape the personalities of students and enable them to become good and responsible citizens, men and women of good character.
Every responsible citizen wants social transformation. If an individual does not change, the society will never change. So, personal transformation will lead to social transformation. An inter-religious movement recommends “Five Paths” exercise for personal transformation.
1. Pray daily for peace. Each one can do this according to his/her own religious tradition at a suitable place and time. We need to pray for peace since we live in a peaceless situation. As a result, we will experience peace within us and also become messengers of peace.
2. Do a good deed a day. Today we have become selfish and self-centered. Selfishness is the root cause of every evil. It is suggested that we do at least one good deed a day without any selfish motive. Selfless deeds will enable us to become selfless and other-centred.
3. Skip a meal a week. Today almost 30 percent of Indian population lives below poverty line. Hunger is widespread in many developing Asian and certain African countries. Only when we are hungry, we can experience the pain of hunger. It is suggested that we could skip one meal once a week. The result of doing this is that we will become empathetic and we can contribute the savings to the poor and needy people.
4. Honor parents, teachers and all human beings. The Indian tradition is: “Matru devo bhavah; Pitru devo bhavah; Guru devo bhavah” (mother, father and teacher are equal to God). A person receives the gift of life from the parents and the gift of knowledge is obtained from the teachers. Above all, every human being is created by God. Hence, they all need to be honored. When we honor others, that honor will come back to us in manyfold.
5. Respect the earth and save its resources. Today nature and natural resources are plundered for our selfish enjoyment. Our survival is mainly due to nature and we depend on natural resources. Our ancestors used only what they required and saved the rest for us. Likewise, we must learn to use only what we need and save the rest for our future generation. The result of this exercise is the prevention of environmental degradation and protection of natural resources. This will help maintain ecological balance.
Here is an inspiring poem on character:
“Positive character traits are something
you can and should develop,
traits like love or caring,
respect for life,
honesty and trustworthiness,
responsibility, justice and fairness” (By Barbara A. Lewis)
Considering the scenario in the educational institutions, all educators – parents, teachers, religious leaders, policy makers and civil society – need to focus on character building. This is the urgent need of the hour.