What is it with people who have suddenly taken to moral policing? Suddenly we want to control…….others, of course! So much so that even our educational institutions are giving more importance to discipline and dress code rather than imparting an education. Today, the so called educationists have taken over the role of the parents too. And what is more surprising is that parents do not seem to mind it. Don’t they realize that by doing so their own children are going to be brought up with someone else’s moral values and ethics? Are they really alright with that? I am not. In any case I think the schools and colleges should concentrate on what they are being paid for, which is educating our young and not dilute this with things that are the domain of parents.
A cousin of mine went to an Ivy League University to do his Masters in Business Administration. Since he had some work experience prior to joining this course, he was offered to give a guest lecture to the junior students. I remember him recounting to me his first experience as a lecturer. When he entered the class he was shocked to see students sitting with their feet up on the desks, sipping coffee and biting into sandwiches. There were hardly half a dozen students and he was expected to lecture them. This is back in the 70s when I was a high school student myself. Of course, my first reaction was envy. Why could we not have colleges like this in India? But I also wondered how much would a student learn this way because I was conditioned to believe that one has to pay attention to every word uttered by the teacher, there has to be a certain decorum maintained in class, not only out of respect for your teacher, but also because it helps one concentrate. But the cousin told me that not everyone can get into a college of such repute and the students who get in are there because they have worked to get there and want to be there. And if they want to do well and pass out with good grades, it is up to them to work for it. It is not the job of the tutor to motivate them. They have to motivate themselves. Also, grasping and learning has nothing to do with dress, posture or decorum.
So, coming back to all this hullabaloo about dress etc. in colleges over here, I think the educators need to do a rethink and find out if they are implementing all these codes because it makes a difference to the score cards of the students or are they taking their authority too far. On one hand our children should know what they want to become in life before they hit high school. On the other hand they are not free to choose what to wear well into adulthood! A irony of sorts, I would say.
