Click to play videoA Class VIII student of a boarding school in Gurgaon was shot dead by two of his classmates in the school premises on Tuesday.
Fourteen-year-old Abhishek Tyagi, a student of Euro International School in Gurgaon’s Sector 45, and the son of a city-based property dealer was shot by two of his classmates as it is believed to be enmity between them.
The two accused have been sent to 14 days in judicial custody by a local court. They will be lodged at a juvenile home in Faridabad.
"One of the boys had used his father's licensed revolver and allegedly fired four shots at Abhishek near a staircase in the school. He had then handed the gun to the other accused who fired another bullet," Police Commissioner, Gurgaon, Mohinder Lal said.
The parents of both the accused have been absconding and have not been traced by the police yet. However, the police have registered an additional case of negligence under the Arms Act against Azad Singh Yadav, the father of the accused but admit that they have not made much headway.
The question that was discussed on CNN-IBN show, Face The Nation was: Should there be security checks in schools?
On the panel to try and answer the question was Principal, Modern School, Lata Vaidyanathan and Professor of Sociology, JNU, Surinder S Jodhka.
Policed Or Just Watched?
Euro International School website claims there are CCTV cameras installed in every classroom. But do they really help? Many schools are also mulling introducing frisking as a security measure.
Lata Vaidyanathan partly agreed to the suggestion and felt a deterrent helps. “I think that some kind of unobtrusive electronic surveillance is essential in large schools where access of human beings to every nook and corner becomes difficult,” Vaidyanathan said.
She suggested that people should feel that they are being watched but not necessarily policed.
Making an interesting point, she also said that the problem simply did not arise out of security checks but a whole culture of confidence, trust and faith must be built up in schools.
“In one side the physical infrastructure and the human intervention in the form of security checks is important but on the other side it is important to have counseling in processes which are compelling and continuous in many ways,” said Vaidyanathan.
Parental Guidance, A Must
When the result of an enmity can reach such a stage that children can put a gun on each other, are parents to be blamed for this kind of situation?
Surinder S Jodhka said that it was a part of a child’s growing up, the kind of relationship that he had with parents and the kind of atmosphere he had in his school.
“I think it is not a question of policing and installing cameras metal detectors, that would not make any difference at all as there would be violence still and there would be aggression. This is not crime. One should make a distinction between what happens in the school and actual cases of crime,” Jodhka said.
Should children given to crime not be deemed as criminals but as children who are neglected and not being taught values? Responding quickly Jodhka said, “Neglected is the wrong word, they are over pampered,”
There’s an argument that it’s because parents were keen on upward mobility and getting ahead in the competitive economy that children are lacking in values.
According to Vaidyanathan, it was important that the home and school in terms of parents and teachers needed to play very important roles in their lives.
“Apart from the counseling that they would get from schools, the role of parents in raising them up is important. Disposable wealth and substituting money from material and other resources for their own love and care is something that is very alarming to see today,” said Vaidyanathan.
Education Begins At Home
There’s an extreme end of this argument as well. Many say the noveau riche culture in urban centers like Gurgaon are unable to live by the “urban-way” of life and hence go back to a culture that rides on money and muscle power.
Vaidyanathan said that the incident would have taken place anywhere other than Gurgaon but what was important was that value systems had to be in place.
“The instances of aggression must be controlled. The ego, the aggression and the violent thinking happening in the mind really needs to be monitored,” she said.
The culture of mass media is also to blame. Americanisation of entertainment and young boys seeking violent entertainment as their recreational choice has also had its influence on Indian youngsters. So who must be responsible - the parents or the teacher?
Jodhka’s said her observation led her to believe that the concept of childhood was missing in Indian culture. “We are all the time trying to make statements about status and power. Children from rich families want to show to other children that they have money so this something which is very dangerous,” he said.
So were parents in denial about the kind of things that children were doing?
Vaidyanathan said that it was possible for the parents to think so without realising that the quality of communication that must happen between them and their children was suffering.
“The role of not just parents but the teachers and society is important in the quality of communication to be revived,” said Vaidyanathan.
So what was the suggestion to get wayward children on track? Would having moral education in school help?
Vaidyanathan said the role modeling was important to monitor harsh behaviour in children and timetable would not be the answer for such things. “The factors that influenced this kind of children is the money spent and the movies watched,” she said.
Making a personal suggestion however, Vaidyanathan said that when the child leaves for school then love and care must be shown by the parents’ able presence and they should communicate more with them.
Jodhka on the other hand felt the need of thinking about institutionalising childhood in the society. “It is important to impart emocratic culture and striving hard to create a society without violence,” Jodhka concluded.
Final SMS poll results: Should there be security checks in schools?
Yes- 30 per cent
No- 70 per cent
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