The Youth Question- SONA RAI

This is an essay of mostly questions. Questions we should have asked ourselves long back and hopefully not too late to ask now. The past few days have been a tumultuous one for the youth in particular and the public at large. It has also revealed certain aspects of student issues that are pertinent for parents, educators and civil society members to address immediately. With the majority of the people focusing on the (probably) larger issues of police brutality and indifferent bureaucracy, I fear what might get lost is what is happening in the minds of our students and how capable are they to stand up for what they believe is right and how effective are their ways to bring about the best possible outcomes. To answer these questions, we must ask first is whether we are doing a decent job of educating our children as parents, as teachers, as community members and as a society.
Speaking of home first, one can never be sure of what exactly are the dynamics of parent-child relations inside anybody’s house, but speaking from personal experience and understood experiences of those around me, we, as a society, where the young are at large, first generation learners, have the experience of our parents having high expectations from us without a concrete plan of how to realize it; we are given freedom to make life-changing decisions, regarding our education, our career paths and our futures, with ample amount of parental emotional baggage and  no tools or skills to actually help us achieve our goals; we are taught high moral ideals but the pathways to make it in life seems impossible without dishonesty and preferential treatment. In short, the young are growing up being pulled from all directions and under extremely contradictory terms, so the logical consequence that can follow is being pulled apart.
At educational institutions, the young are being introduced to concepts of freedom, democracy, equality and justice and they do not see that being enacted in front of them. Most of what they are taught seems irrelevant and therefore, they do not learn. Seriously, how free, democratic, equal and fair are our classrooms and educational institutions? How exemplary are the images of educated people around them? Instead of student development being the main issue discussed in educational institutions across the state why do most educators sound more like contractors, politicians, bureaucrats, housewives,  ardent reality-show viewers, or embarrassingly, flirtatious nymphets and potential sexual harassment perpetrators? What we do and who we are is what most of them learn and emulate.
Coming to the teaching-learning process, are our classrooms interactive enough about the material being taught? Can teachers distinguish between what the students need rather than what the students want? Are the prime concerns of teachers to make students understand, read, write, express rather than completing the syllabus, circulating the teachers’ worn-out and crumpled M.A./ B.A. notes, making everything seem easy and light, awarding of marks which the students have not earned? Are we making sure that the students are working hard instead of being worried about how popular are we with the students and fellow colleagues?
When we teach children the definition of any concept instead of telling them how difficult it is to define anything; when the examination questions which are set, are to enumerate factors, characteristics, features (since they are easier to evaluate) instead of showing them the complexity, the contradiction and the problematic associated with the ‘ultimate truth’; when we teach them dominant discourses as the legitimate knowledge system instead of making them debate the pros and cons of various alternative ways of thinking, then the end result is surely going to be youth who are easily misled, who adopt extreme measures, who do not recognize the value of responsible action and responsible speech, and who are malleable to manipulation and deceit.
Coming to society, when we surround our young with mindless consumerism; instant gratification; rampant corruption; monolithic idea of success, beauty and status; sense of humour promoting communalism, sexism, discrimination, devaluation of hard-work and idealism; domination of common-sense knowledge; lack of critical thinking; hypocrisy; encouragement of shrewd and illegal dealings; religious maintenance of hierarchy; a show of politeness to inefficiency; lack of dignity of labour or work ethic; paternalistic attitudes to women, children and the downtrodden; and, insensitivity to social issues then can we expect them to learn any better?
What we need to do is facilitate the best ways of educating our children, we need to accord them more responsibility and make them actively participate in the functioning of society; democratize our homes, educational institutions, and neighbourhoods; encourage them to debate and express their opinions; guide them to be coherent, just and compassionate; help them acquire problem-solving skills; make them understand the value of hard work; create avenues and spaces for them to just be; reduce the formalities and increase the essence of student activities; teach them less but teach them well; equip them with the tools of empowerment; and mold them into leaders and conscious citizens of tomorrow.
I know what I have written so far may seem crude and generalised (and what I am going to write, as truistic). There are structural constraints of living in a developing country which compel us to do what we do, behave how we behave, and be who we become. I am also aware that there are individuals who are trying their best to create a better society out of our small state, however, they are surely outnumbered and marginalised. What needs to be pointed out is that we collectively need to start taking responsibility for what is happening to our society instead of constantly playing the blame-game. Probably needless to say, every little thing we do makes an impact on the society around us, sooner or later.
[The writer is Asst. Professor, Department of Sociology, Government College Rhenock, E. Sikkim.]