O J’s Corner
Campus killings

Children carry the attitude and behaviour evolved at home to campus and conduct themselves abominably, leading to even unabashed killings.

The latest series of murder of fellow students by wayward wards of mostly wealthy parents betray a bomb ticking at the door-step of culture and civilization alien to ours. No doubt they have gone astray. But the dangerous trend has to be nipped in the bud.

A carrot-and-stick policy is essential to deal with the situation. Conscientisation of students as well as parents with the involvement of teachers, counsellors and the society at large would go to a great extent to create a harmonious climate on the campus. The erratic ways of students indulging in opulence and concomitant high-handedness should be sternly dealt with.

Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan was the scene of blood-shed the other day as a third-year under-graduate girl student of Vishwabharati University was shot dead apparently by a jilted lover.

Earlier in January, a school student shot his junior to death at a Government school in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. In December, a 14-year-old student was shot dead in Gurgaon in Haryana, bordering Delhi.

These are shocking, horrifying and tragic incidents. This kind of grotesque behaviour, unheard-of in Indian conditions, should be an eye-opener. The environment in which children are growing up, under the influence of arms and money, should be scanned scientifically to correct the situation.

Money and status of parents in society are the main criteria to secure admission in top schools. Most of the parents do not keep track of the conduct of their children in schools. They have no idea of the peers with whom the kids interact. Some of the students extend the attitude developed at home to the campus. They were encouraged to be harsh with their friends and acquaintances.

Mind you, the students spend only 25 per cent of their time in school. The rest of the time is spent at home. Which means parents have to act as counsellors.

Peer pressure, increasing over-emphasis on studies, need to excel, non-availability of parents for interaction etc result in pent-up anger. The children do not know how to control anger. They direct it at anyone who comes their way. Aggressive behaviour is often transferred to children from parents. Adjustment problems, cultural shocks and attitudinal aberrations deviate children from positivity.

Take the case of ragging incidents at various educational institutions. Aggressive ragging is nothing but a sort of killing instinct. The victims are subjected to heinous cruelty in the guise of orienting the new entrants to campus life. Ragging which was intended to be innocuous strengthening of attitude to weather difficult situations has turned out to be abject cruelty.
Disharmony at home, lack of attention paid to children, disregard to their just demands, pressure to always study for best results, dearth of physical activity, sports and games, entertainment programmes, not even listening to music and the like make them taut, tough and rough.

Balanced diet and balanced behaviour should be provided to the children who constantly and unknowingly imbibe trends from their parents, who should therefore be careful.