The Debate Over Maturity

Now anyone who knows me well or reads this blog regularly knows that I hate my school. (If u don’t know about that already, click here.)
Today in our Spoken English class at school, a topic was raised regarding Junior Colleges, and a debate was proposed in the class about whether it’s a good system. Of course, no one participated in it unless forced by the teacher to speak (that’s what happens in KV), but inspired by the discussion I decided to write this post here.

So, should children leave school after 10th and begin college life, or should they continue their schooling until their 12th is over?

Personally, I’m in favour of junior colleges. I think after passing 10th, a child is usually around the age of 15 and is mature enough to go into college life. And children over 15 years of age definitely do not need to wear uniforms or stand in the morning assembly or cover their notebooks in the school colour or be subjected to school rules. These may have helped in a child’s development in early years, but I really don’t see how the White Dress or rules about short nails “teaches” students of ages 16 and 17 anything. Ok, maybe I’m being biased because I hate school rules anyway, yet I’d say staying in school in 11th and 12th doesn’t have a point. It’s said that school life is better than college, and maybe for some people it is, but the point here is every child should be given the choice.

It isn’t just about the uniform and the restrictions. Until class 10th, every student studies general subjects. It is after 10th that we get to choose specific subjects of interest, and leave out the rest. Since 11th and 12th are about stream-based education, why not do it from a college? Schooling helps in general development of a child – teaching general subjects, inculcating the right habits at early stages of the student’s life, encouraging them to be hygenic and healthy and being regular, and helping them develop their personality. But after 10th, these lessons aren’t needed anymore, and if they are provided they almost always go in vain, because children develop a personality before turning 14 or 15 and are resistant to change. What is needed in 11th and 12th is stream-based specific education which does not require the basic system of school education.

But the question most people have about this issue is whether children are mature enough to handle college life after 10th. The common answer is that since they aren’t legally adults yet, they cannot be considered mature. But can you really define maturity by a person’s age and whether or not s/he is legally an adult?

With exposure to the internet and mass media, today’s children know more than we think they do. I don’t say each and every 16 year old is mature enough, but more than half students of 11th definitely are. Why should they unnecessarily be subjected to pointless rules and regulations which aren’t developing anythign in them other than frustration and rebellion? Children of 11th are known to be chief troublemakers in schools, why? Because they begin to oppose school rules by then and find ways to rebel and break rules which they find pointless. And if that is the case, why not free them from the whole idea of school rules and allowing them the college life they are mature enough to deserve?

I am no one to pass judgement on any education system, but being a student I can just say that I feel in the completely wrong place being in school in class 11, and I think it would have been so much better if I was given “farewell” in class 10 and walked out of school life. Ok, so school life is the most memorable part of life and everything, but it has to stop sometime, and that time came when I gave my 10th Boards.

And with the end of this post I curse my school uniform and strike off one more day of school on my calender.

Happy (??) New Year

So here we are in the new decade.

This is the first day of 2010 and there’s celebration all around and everyone’s wishing each other a happy new year, there was this DJ-dance event last night and firecrackers were sent off at midnight to welcome the new year. But I don’t know anything about that because I was in my bed wth a throbbing headache and a sprained arm and I fell asleep at around 11 pm. And anyway, December 09 was probably the worst month of the year where I had all sorts of fights and depressing moments and I cried a lot thinking that feeling really happy from inside was just not possible for me (that explains why I didn’t write anything here after November).

I woke up today morning and frankly couldn’t see what’s to celebrate for just another day which was like yesterday and like the day before that. I couldn’t find the setup file I wanted on my laptop, my internet wireless connection still wasn’t working, my head was still throbbing, there was still no sound notification on my mobile when someone called, and on and on. I even had a huge fight with someone over the phone today. But with everyone around me talking about new year resolutions and hopes for a better life, I decided to be hopeful after all and consider the possibilty of the new year bringing some change in the course of my life.

I’m not the kind of person who believes in thigns like new year resolutions – they don’t even last for a single entire day. And anyway, if you want to change things or start on something you’ve been thinking of doing sicne a long time, why not do it immediately, why wait for the calendar year to end? Honestly there’s nothing special about 1st January. And if there is, then maybe we should make resolutions for the first day of every month or every week as well.

But then today, I decided to think like everyone else was thinking, just for the sake of it. I didn’t make any resolutions, of course. I did something I’ve never done before.

Sometime back, I took out a piece of paper from a random diary. I wrote down everything whcih really, really upsets me and throws me into a state of complete depression when I think about them. I wrote down what I hate about the people around me, I wrote the things I hate about my life, I wrote about everything that makes me cry, I wrote and wrote until I was shaking with anger and bitterness thinking about the miserable things of my life all written on one piece of paper.

And I burned it.

And with that, it’s gone. Those things don’t exist anymore for me, or maybe I just hope to feel that way. All I’m left with are the wonderful things in my life for whcih I cannot help being grateful and thankful. And happy.

After a whole month, I actually feel happy today. Maybe 1st January is a day to be celebrated after all.

And I learn some more

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan celebrated Regional Youth Festival 2009 today, under the National Adolescence Education Programme in the Jabalpur region. There were four KVs participating, and we had four events : Role play on Gender Ratio, Debate, Essay Writing and Poster Making, out of which I was a participant in the role play and the debate, representing my school.

We reached our school and were standing outside as our escort teacher had instructed us, but our principal ma’m didn’t believe us when we said we are going to another school for the youth festival and forced us into the assembly and by the time we somehow got out of there our escort teacher LEFT without us. We had to walk upto the school where the competition was being held. A day which starts bad doesn’t leave much hopes for the rest of the day.

Anyway, in the role play I was to play the role of an oppressed rural housewife who is being forced to abort her female fetus by her family whcih wants only a son. I was to wear a saree which was really annoying (I don’t understand why the dress was ever designed, u can hardly walk or do anything without feeling highly uncomfortable). My role didn’t really consist of many dialogues since the rural wife wasn’t allowed to express her opinion, I just had to act upset and depressed (which wasn’t very difficult since it was really embarrassing and depressing being in that saree). We were the only ones who had slogans and had an original song composed by our music teacher

The role play got over and I was just about to go out of the room when it was announced that next was debate. I had to get out of that saree in 2 minutes somehow (God I hate sarees) and prepare for the debate. I was absolutely certain that I was going to mess it up by not being able to utter a single word after I heard the first contestant speak, and I couldn’t help staring at the back door wondering if I could run for my life. But then, “…and now we call upon stage, Roohani Deshpande from KV No. 1 GCF, who would be speaking for the motion Growing up healthy is the only way to develop a well rounded personality. Please come forward, Roohani Deshpande.”

Ok, I thought, I’ll just go and say I’m sorry I want to quit, and run for the door immediately. I went on the stage, breathed thrice (as one of my supportive classmates had suggested to me), and decided to give it a try after all, and so I began “I firmly believe…”
I wish I could say once I began I started to gain confidence and ended up speaking really well, but what really happened was that I forgot what I was talking about every 15 seconds (but I kept speaking nevertheless) and I repeated the same thing thrice. My face probably looked like I haven’t eaten since a week because I did feel that way.

And when I became to come up with points which my ‘worthy opponents’ had said before me and ideas on how to counter them convincingly..  “BUZZZZZ Your time is up.” I was so taken aback, I just left abruptly. I couldn’t even begin with the brilliant points whcih had suddenly cropped up into my mind, and I didn’t even say a polite Thank You at the end, or even give an indication that I was about to leave, I just left.

It’s amazing how many things start to come to your mind the moment you leave the stage. The sudden flow of “I should have said.. I shouldn’t have done.. Why didn’t I .. I could have…” statements flooding your mind the very instant you take your seat again is really amusing. I guess what went wrong was that the reality around me caught up long before I reached there in thought.

From 12:45 pm to 2:15 pm, we roamed around the school where the competition was held. I criticised my own school comparing it to the one we were in, calling my school things ranging from a war-prison to a potential zoo. Honestly, my school is suffocating, jail-like and really unbearable.
The Essay Writing and the Poster Making competitions were going on in the other rooms and we had to pass our time till 2 pm somehow. I talked to the participants from other schools and soon became their friends.

At 2:15 we were given lunch (it was more than the amount of food I would eat in an entire day) and finally at 3 pm the results were announced.

Role Play: First prize goes to… Kv No. 1, GCF!
We won Rs 500 for first prize. (See, the depressing saree made me act depressed so well, lol)

Debate: First prize goes to.. Somebody else!
(Of course, I wasn’t even listening to this one)
Second prize goes to.. Somebody else!
(I wasn’t expecting it either, just heard out of curiousity)
Third prize goes to.. Roohani Deshpande!
(Omg, that’s me!) I won Rs 300

So this way the Youth Festival was celebrated in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. The debate didn’t go as I imagined it would go, but yes my mistakes taught me many things I would always remember. For example, I will remember that I was congratulated by the Education Officer today, not for the prize I won, but for the spirit with which I participated.

And in all these events, I absolutely forgot about my approaching half yearly examinations which have hardly 10 days left to begin, and I haven’t started with the course yet. *rushes to study table*