What are values?
Are they something that can be quantified or something that can be bought? Does education teach us values or is its only aim to make us street smart and to teach us to earn a living and make financial fortunes?
Are values to be taught in a school, as part of a curriculum or should they be nurtured at home? Should a government create a place for values in a nation’s education policy and impart as a classroom subject?
Is earning money and being successful more important than learning and inculcating values in children?
Alas…All these questions can never have a real and satisfactory answer. We can have endless avenues for questioning and debates on this topic but can never conclude one way or the other.
Amongst, all these questions and debates, there is a matter of Life to be considered – the life of a child!
This is utterly confusing and the path remains unguided, for all the grail seekers – the parents, the academia, the educationists and the children themselves.
Most students do read textbooks about morals and values, but for them its application remains limited to textbooks and exams. The real moral education comes from the environment, in which a child grows and the manner of upbringing he or she is subject to. They learn from how we as elders behave.
We encourage our children to be smart, savvy and grab opportunities to be successful and become future ready, but we miss out on imparting of the most crucible facts of life – morals and values.
We do not teach them to value people, value things, and above all value humane behaviour. The situation is so alarming that all societies are reeling in the after-effects of inhumane crimes and behaviour destitution. We condemn reports of rape, murders, racism in newspapers almost every day, but do not want to take the foremost step towards correction – to create a society which understands its moral and ethical responsibilities and acts upon them. We do not teach our children duty, empathy, and value of kindness and courage. We do not teach our children to be grateful for the good things in life and neither to cope under duress. We and our expectations are turning them into grabbing opportunists and pessimistic machines.
Can this change? Yes ofcourse. As they say, where there is a will, there is a way. With little and focused endeavour to make our children and students understand the importance of values, we can bring about a remarkable change which can in turn change societies and ultimately civilisations. If a seed, that is properly nurtured and cared for can become a fruit bearing tree at the hands of a skilled gardener…Why can’t our children be so..
The imperative question being…..Are we skilled gardeners?
