Whether it is the buzzing playground, the silent assembly hall or the lively cafeteria; there is always a bunch of children who are the center of attraction. They are considered superior by the rest.
These children who are in the thick of everything are generally the children of the teaching staff of the school. They enjoy a celebrity like status in the school.
Whether it is picking a ball in the playground or the friends they keep; each and every action is observed. As a result of the extra attention paid to them; they take advantage of the situation. They boast about their connections and often bully other children.
Sometimes, unconsciously, even the teacher’s pay a little more attention to the children of their colleagues. Gestures like smiling or hugging these children as they might be a part of their network even outside school leaves a great impact on the psyche of other children who do not have parents teaching in the school. Children especially those studying in the elementary levels look up to the teachers for guidance and think of them as their role models. The behaviors of teachers influences their way of thinking and social adjustments. A teacher who practices partiality induces inferiority complex in young minds. Children start feeling that they are not noticed by the teacher because of their own weaknesses. Needless to say performance in school starts getting affected.
The schools should foster the ideas in teachers that each child is important and precious. Even when a child does not show any behavioral patterns that indicate that he is feeling neglected; he might be slowly getting disconnected with the school environment. School environment plays a pivotal role in shaping up his personality. School going children are very impressionable and consider their teachers as Gods. Hence teachers should keep up to this image in order to fulfill the educational and emotional needs of their pupils. A partial teacher can destroy a child’s confidence and hamper his all round development
This blog reminded me of my childhood days, when I hated my teacher's daughter because she got more attention than me even though I was better than her in academics. Not only this I remember, just before our Christmas holidays, we had a stage play and she was selected to play the role of Mother Mary even when others were better than her in dramatics.
ReplyDeleteHi Chetna
ReplyDeleteAll of us at some point or the other have gone through the trauma of special attention being meted out to others because they were the wards of the school staff. This is a big problem that children face but they do not gather the courage to confront their teachers on this vital issue. The examples that you have cited are relatively bigger compared to how just a broader smile or a hug to the special child can shake the confidence level of other children in class.