Children spend most of their waking hours in school, where they learn not just from textbooks and teachers, but also from their peers. It comes as no surprise then that they worry about being left out or bullying.
A pan-India survey by the non-profit Teacher Foundation revealed that many students worry about being insulted, bullied and ignored in school. Around 23% of students from class four to eight, and 14% between classes nine and 12 felt that they were ‘left out’ during lunch break or play time.
The survey found that around 16% of students (Class 4-8) and 27% (class 9-12) found it difficult to make friends. But it was teasing that proved to be the biggest worry: 42% of students between classes four and eight, and 36% between standards nine and twelve said others make fun of them.
The survey, conducted across 90 schools, involved speaking to 850 teachers and 3,300 students. While boys ‘felt bad’ about physical forms of harassment, girls were more prone to situations like verbal arguments. They worried about people ‘talking behind their back’ and ‘using abusive words’.
In this backdrop, the Teacher Foundation has launched the Indian Social and Emotional Learning Framework for schools in India. This tool will help educators develop social-emotional competencies in children. A press release by the foundation stated that this has been developed based on a six-year research involving teachers and principals in 10 different languages and 15 locations across India.
