Insecurity, depression and violence in children

The incident of attack on a teacher by a student in Chennai has worried parents not only in Tamil Nadu but also all over the country, as to how their can become ideal citizens. It is said that children are turning towards violence due to severe depression. One of the reasons for the depression is the intense competition to reach the top by proving excellence in an examination lasting for three hours.

February 2012, at St. Mary’s Anglo-Indian High School, Chennai, a student killed his teacher by stabbing her with a knife. The teacher had written a remark on the student’s report card that he was lagging behind in studies. This remark hurt the student very much. He hid a knife in his bag and carried it to school for three days. The student was probably from a rich family as he used to travel to school in a car. He was quite strong; but paying attention to studies might have been below his dignity.The school has not only completed 100 years, but also has produced many dignified students who are well known for their excellent qualities. This school is managed by Don Bosco Education Society. The name of the student is Mohamad Irfan and is 13 years old. The teacher, Uma Maheshwari, was 40 years old and a mother of two children. Students and colleagues spoke highly about her. She was a good a teacher and shared a good rapport with her students. At the time of the incident, the teacher was in classroom teaching Hindi, when Irfan entered and suddenly attacked her by stabbing with a knife in the neck and abdomen. She died on the spot.

From depression towards violence Not only in Tamil Nadu but also all over the country. It is said that children are taking to violence because of severe One of the reasons of the depression is the intense competition to reach at the top by proving one’s excellence through an examination which lasts for three hours. All parents desire that their children should lead a comfortable life, and keeping this in mind, they decide the study-course for their children. Children are made to study till late night. Parents enroll them in private coaching classes, where they study the same subjects again that are taught in their school. In addition, they are made to join other classes, which teach some game or art. In this manner, ambitious parents make their children slog for the whole day. Nobody wants to take into account the child’s own desire. The poor children are continuously under mental strain of fulfilling the high expectations of their parents and they are scared to lose their credibility if they are incapable of doing so. In this life of intense competition, if their image gets tarnished, they lose their mental stability and they feel like taking to violence to pacify their agitated mind.

Early maturity in children and its dangers – insecurity, depression

At present though there is insecurity among children, there is much more insecurity among Students may be uncertain about their future, but parents are facing a problem of their existence itself. Parents feel that there is no role for them to play in their children’s lives and they can only nurture and cater to their various demands ungrudgingly. They fear that there will not be any emotional bonding with their children in future. If this problem is to be solved, then some core concepts need to be changed. We presume that small children are innocent and there is a vast difference between their world and the world of grown up people. Small children live in a dream world, whereas grown up people have to live in this cruel world and constantly fight against the reality. Hence, sometimes they have to lie and cheat and so, morality takes a backseat. Until now, parents were quite particular in protecting their children from the influence and consequences of the dichotomy of moral values and their own uncivilised behaviour. Although parents sometimes had to go against the moral tradition just to run the house; they were very careful in not allowing the shadow of their acts fall on their innocent children. However, this situation has changed now. Children have lost their innocence and have entered the world of adulthood untimely. There is not much qualitative difference between the lifestyle of the parents and their children. However, whatever the difference is, it is quite terrible. The life that elders are living on maturity is being lived by the children too at the teenage level.

Widening of the generation gap between parents and children
Firstly, the modes of entertainment are the same for both, parents and children. They sit together and watch entertaining serials on television These serials depict close relatives killing one another for selfish motive under the guise of personal freedom. Without taking into consideration the logical and comprehensive repercussions of such programmes, writers, directors and producers take unbridled liberty in their presentations. Thus, an impression of breaking up rather than uniting the family is created on the minds of the little viewers. Programmes for children, which are popular in foreign countries, are copied and dubbed in regional languages and telecast. By watching such programmes, children develop bad habits like rudeness and disrespect. Children look at each of the statements of the elders with doubt and challenge it. This creates a rift between the children and the parents; but life has become so fast that the parents have no time to mend this rift. Thus, the rift goes on widening.

Children growing up in a poisonous environment.
Children are getting used to studying on their own with the help of computers. This is a good thing; but it has reduced parents’ usefulness to some extent. Children get all the required information from a computer. However, some parents have to transform that information into knowledge by relating and explaining the meaning of that acquired information. This is a difficult task, but nevertheless it has to be done. Then, there is another problem of surroundings. The environment is full of corruption. The corruption is seen at the intellectual, psychological and the behavioural level. Years of westernized education has corrupted the age old Bharatiya values. As a result, the entire environment which should have been charged with Bharatiya thoughts and has been deprived of it, and a hollow has been created in its place. A great war is on at the intellectual and mental level. Initially, corruption at the intellectual level was thrust upon the people which then slowly got transformed into economic level as well. Every man is encouraged to do in Bharat. No transaction, whether big or small, is completed without corruption. It has become a way of life. Unfortunately, our young generation is growing in this poisonous environment.

Children are influenced by violence movies.
The Chennai incident shows that our politicians, actors and thinkers do not use polite and civilised ways to express opposition, difference of opinion or anger. This is affecting children, who always emulate their elders.