Punish in Style
Spare the rod and spoil the child? Well, not if you choose to punish the innovative way. Bid adieu to the ‘hands up’ or ‘out of the class’. Gen Y seeks reformation and not punishment to learn the lessons
Kritik Soman, AIS Mayur Vihar, XI A
“When we were in school, and did something wrong, we were asked to stand up with our hands outstretched. The teacher hit us with a scale as many times as he deemed fit to commensurate the magnitude of our folly. If we cried a bit, the punishment was doubled mercilessly.” This is most parents’ memory of what ‘punishment’ meant in their days of schooling.
Today, we can hardly imagine, let alone perceive that any of our teachers could do that to us. Times have changed, so have the students and teachers, and of course, their relationship too. This gradual change has ushered a consequential change in the definition of punishments and the contexts and extent, to which they can be invoked.
Today’s generation represents individuals, who wish to evolve holistically – punishment included. Punishments are all about reform and realization of errors. Doing away with them completely is certainly not a good idea because the causes are still prevalent, though transformed in context. In other words, naughtiness has evolved as well!
So, here’s some insight into a few innovative and out-of-the-box punishments for today’s generation.
Dil mangey - Rewards first...
As duties cannot come without rights, punishments cannot come without rewards. Punishing a child for the bad and not rewarding him for the good ones will only mean a stroll for the authorities. If the authorities really wish to go a long way, they must make rewards as step 1 and punishments as step 2.
... But, innovative ones, only!
The age old tradition of gifting books or a few words of appreciation is passé. Today’s generation is dynamic and progressive, and expects their rewards to be the same.
The student who excels, academically or otherwise, gets an edge to be selected in the school student council or the chance to represent the school in international forums, apart from some extra marks. Or maybe, he gets a day off to chill out as per his wish.
A date with a renowned celebrity, a free library membership (just for the geeks!), permission to sport a funky hairstyle or coming to school in casuals for a week, or even something as meager as planning the school canteen menu or the next examination date sheet...there are endless possibilities. Yes, it is far fetched but will deliver the desired results.
Shalini Aggarwal, Teacher, AIS Gur-43 agrees, “Rewarding a child innovatively, not only boosts the morale of the child, but also instills a great amount of self confidence, which no number of certificates can ever do. Making the child feel special makes them happy and motivates them to work harder every day.”
The idea here is to realize that a reward should not represent mere symbolism or appreciation. It has to be something a child enjoys, cherishes and craves for. Even if there is a possibility of the reward spoiling them, it will be outweighed by the urge and desire to secure more, which will implicitly channel hard work and dedication to strive for the future.”
Again a thorny rose – Time to punish...
Now that we are done with the motivating bit, it is time to come to ground reality – rebukes! Well, there are a million ideas. For today’s generation, a punishment should be such that the individual may potentially never repeat the same mistake, or it should drive home the point of self realization. This could probably be done by imposing immense boredom, which is a threat to gen-next. The old paradigms of inflicting physical pain are not only condemnable; they are an infringement on child rights. Let alone the potential to curb the psychological growth of the child! Here’s what can be done.
... It’s a Western idea, Sirjee!
Here’s a formal, conventional, nevertheless a progressive idea. As our education system is adapting many things from the West, why not ape some punishments, too? For instance, detentions, extra assignments, remedial schools, more project work, etc. But then again, where’s the ‘realization’ in these punishments? Students in the West detest them anyway, and eventually the same is bound to happen to Indian students…though it definitely can be an exciting prospect initially!
Try it out – Punishment with benevolence...
Students who do something wrong could be asked to do something they may disapprove of, but may be beneficial to someone else. A day of social service for the poor children by teaching them or spending a day at an old age home are some ideas. Such punishments will not only help someone, but could also provoke the child to think differently. Besides, they also help foster values like compassion.
This aspect may also extend to instructing the child to plant ten saplings in the school or home premises; or learn a cultural dance or music form and give a performance in the school assembly within a week; or participate in some cultural or community event. These might not necessarily feel like punishments, but they will broaden the horizons of the mind.
We get better-Things go extreme
Their pocket money could be suspended indefinitely – parents would be more than willing to try this one! They could be given a free visit to the dentist or some other feared entity. For the intellectually inclined, they could be asked to mug up the multiplication table of some incredibly large number. How about making a senior student recite a nursery rhyme? Of course, some of these punishments may sound too silly to be implemented, but they are sure to have an impact For those who doubt the success quotient of funny punishments, Archit Gupta, X B, AIS MV offers proof, “My friend in my evening tuitions after school, was talking in class when told not to. As a result, was asked to repeat ‘Sharam Karo’ 100 times. It was amusing, but I’d never do anything to get into such a situation ” The key idea is to have the child detest the punishment without fearing it.
With inputs from Ishita Bedi, X, AIS Mayur Vihar
Hear ‘em talk!
“Physical punishments are useless, to say the least, as they abuse the child temporarily. Punishments should be long lasting, so that they make the child realise the wrongs that have been done on a daily basis and remind him that something needs to be worked upon.”
Sakaar Khurana, XI A, AIS Mayur Vihar
“The authorities in general need to get more creative with the punishments. Something that’ll make the kid accomplish more than ‘standing outside the classroom’ and make him not repeat the mistake.”
Meghna Kaushik, XII D, AIS Saket
“Though, the punishments in our school are different in a lot of ways, we are still aware of what we are to get when we do a certain something. We repeat a mistake, only when we know we can handle the after effects. So, innovation is necessary.”
Srishti Mehrotra, XII, Pathways School, Noida
“The teacher does not have anything against the child. It is only when the child disturbs the class, or is highly irresponsible, that the teacher has to put him/her on the correct path and for that, they punish the child. But again, if you debar the child from doing things that he likes, he might not take interest in anything at all. Punishments need to be innovative, so that the purpose behind giving punishments is fulfilled.”
Archana Upadhaya, Teacher, AIS Mayur Vihar
“Everyone loves punishments that require you to stand outside the class, or shut your books and stand at the back of the classroom. They hardly are punishments; rather, they’re blessings in disguise!”
Aadwitiya Bhardwaj, IX B, AIS Mayur Vihar
“A friend of mine told us of an instance when a lizard had entered her class. Everyone started screaming so loud that all the school authorities were alerted and came to check on them. Even the principal had to leave her work and come. Later on, they felt very silly and decided to apologise by making a card for her. The self imposed punishment was a lesson to keep calm when something like this happens the next time.”
Snigdha Shahi, X D, AIS Noida
View Archives
