Meeting Teachers-3

After seeking permission from Mrs. Ingrid de Rozario, the headmistress for Primary Section at St. Xavier's High School, I met three teachers who teach at the kindergarten department.

The scenario of parents posing a problem for their children is evident everywhere. Teachers have grown conscious of this fact and feel the parents today are increasingly insecure. While discussing it with the teachers, the question of faith comes in. How to trust your own child-that’s the new question. This leads to various other problems.  Each problem is very subjective in nature. Here's a list of the key issues I  could figure out after talking to them.

• Lack of Freedom: Parents cannot trust their children to do things by themselves. This results in restraining their movement and thoughts.
• Dependence: Due to lack of freedom, the child becomes very dependent. So when it starts its school, its not only that he is mentally unprepared, he is physically also unprepared which aggravates the mental health further. Lack of toilet training and eating habits can cripple the child's interaction in school. A case was shared where the five year olds were taken for a picnic and given food packets each. One child put his entire mouth in the packet because he didn’t know how to eat by hands. Later when his mother was called, it was found that she never let him eat by himself. She always fed him for the fear of him messing with his food.
• Fear of Competition: It’s the parents who fear that their child shouldn't lag behind in class and want him or her to stand apart. Each considers their child to be the best. This results in parents expecting from their children. Many a times, children fail to perform well in pressure, the reason being pushy parents.
• Mother's think they are the best mothers when they do everything for the child. This is a disaster situation for a child. Too much dependence or too much independence both have a negative impact. Parents should understand that.

In many cases the Joint Family system is also considered a problem.  Due to grandparents or relatives intervention parents many a times feel that they have no say for their child. Another interesting observation which one of the teachers came across was parents who are in professional field may not have the time to spend with their children but in many cases they are the ones who are quick to analyse what their child needs or where he lacks. Whereas mothers who tend to spend more time at home often tend to worry more than necessary. The teachers were concerned about the teaching pattern at home also. They felt that more importance should be given to understanding the subject than by hearting it. Parents often neglect these issues and this weakens the basis of education in children.