“Teachers! Leave the kids alone, all in all it’s a brick in the wall,” is a line from the Pink Floyd production which articulated the anger among students, years back.
We as school students rehearsed the chorus, “School is such a bore and we are building more,” for the musical Kidstuf, directed by Barry John and the music scored by Param Vir.
Today, homosexuality continues to be treated disdainfully by our society. Today’s gen next, fed by an implosion of information find this adult behaviour highly hypocritical.
Is your student a female in a male body and in the process of discovering his sexuality? Or perhaps suffering from dyslexia? Or has the student been forced into a discipline not of their liking and aptitude? These children are simmering with anger, as conventional mores do not embrace them. And parents and teachers are unaware of their predicament.
MANIFESTATIONAnger manifests as a vexed and infuriated attitude of the student. It is normal for any student to be angry. It is a natural human emotion which should not be suppressed. The feelings need to be ventilated, so that the volcano does not erupt. Uncontrolled anger can be contagious and lead to a rebellion in the classroom.
Why do students become angry? They unabashedly crave attention, yet seek a personal space, and are against what they may perceive as cruel control. Several students are stuck in the mores of their homes and schools, even the religious and spiritual proclivities of their parents and family with which they cannot empathise.
During vacations students may just like to chill out with friends, spend a night over, play with their gizmos or go on a holiday with their bunch of friends. But instead, parents suddenly conjure a holiday, perhaps to keep a vigil on the movements of the child. Students find this behaviour reprehensible and a breach of trust.
A student starts simmering with anger and has pent-up feelings when he receives mixed signals and messages about various aspects in life from parents, peers and society at large observing their double standards.
The innocence of the child likens it to egregious behaviour by parents.
DENIALApparently a couple of students from a prestigious school in the city attempted to run away as they claimed to have discovered “soul mates” in each other, much to the chagrin of the parents and disbelief of the school establishment. Both parties lived in a world of denial.
The recalcitrant child refuses to leave the sandbox when the aura of the house is negative. Imagine a house which has an alcoholic father and a stressed-out mother who is highly demanding. The student is unable to perform well academically and suffers from low self-esteem. Further the student could be a victim of peer rejection, mood swings and psychosomatic disorders. The anxiety of the child worsens with frequent burnouts, feeling deprived in comparison to fellow classmates. It is quite likely that the family is unable to support the growing financial demands of the student.
In such an eventuality, it is the teacher who can fill the chasm and create a serene atmosphere in the classroom, listen to the students’ voiced and unvoiced needs, make them list out what bothers them, encourage them to pursue sport and hobbies and expand their horizons. Anger is an acid which can damage the vessel of knowledge, if left unattended.
In the final analysis, as Stephen Hawking put it, “People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.”
