Rather than just banning social networking sites, children need to be counselled about their perils Photo: Pradeep Tewari

AN individual as well as a society’s character is judged by the way they respond in a state of crisis. Application of mind to a challenge is what ensures that it translates into an experience that leads to the growth and expansion of horizons. Whenever a challenging situation is posed, it’s the sense of taking responsibility and going to the root cause of the problem that ensures a long-term solution.

The suspension of 16 students of Vivek High school, Chandigarh, for three months for allegedly posting obscene remarks about their teacher on Facebook was one such incident that caught the civil society’s attention. Following the incident, many schools issued an advisory to their students, asking them to close their accounts from social networking sites and banning the school communities as well.

Was this a well-thought out measure or simply a knee-jerk reaction to wash off responsibility from their hands? We talked to various stake holders who could face a similar situation to know if there could be a way to handle not just this particular incident but also tackle the challenge that this incident points towards, leading to concrete, long-term solutions.

Manjeet Madra, Principal, Doon International School, Mohali, who has been keenly following the story, thinks that rather than curing the symptoms, we should focus on getting to the cause. "Pronouncing a hasty decision without taking the parents and children into confidence is never going to work. I believe that engaging the students in a dialogue along with their parents is important to ensure that an effective solution is derived." She maintains that keeping an ‘open communication channel’ has been one of the best antidotes to any such challenges she has faced in her 16-year-long career as an academician.

So, what all could be a holistic approach to fight the onslaught of technology faced by young minds? The answer to this lies in nurturing the young minds, leading to positive attitude-building along with inculcating a sense of responsibility, opines Janajit Ray, Principal, Yadvindra Public School. He is already in the process of introducing personal awareness programmes for students along with anger-management courses in his school.

"When I send my children to a sports ground, it’s not to produce champions but individuals with a sportsman spirit," he says and adds, "I believe in building a system of trust between teachers, students and parents, wherein all of them have the freedom to express their individuality so that they do not harbour even a slight feeling of oppression."

"It is very important for schools and parents to be on a common platform," agrees Madra. She goes on to narrate incidents where parents did not show due respect to the teacher in front of their wards. "If the parents do not show trust and respect towards the school authorities, it would be very difficult to expect the child to behave responsibly,"she says. "We must understand that we all have to work together towards a solution."

Also, the case of technology is a peculiar one where the children tend to know more than the grown-ups. And many a time, the mentors themselves remain unaware of the pros and cons of a new phenomenon. Ramnik Kaur, a mother of two, believes that the parents should keep pace with these modern trends to ensure that the children remain safe. "We cannot be passive to the challenges the new world poses for us, as they directly affect our children."

The same challenge is being faced by the teachers, too. "In fact, one of the most pertinent questions is how much are we spending on the training of our teachers. If we expect them to handle issues like these with maturity, first of all, their capacities in the ICT (Information, Communication and Technology) sector must be properly built. Training them on various aspects of their job is the basic step towards ensuring quality education", chips in Ray.

Many schools have partially introduced or are in a process of acquainting their students with e-etiquette and the perils they may face in the world of the Internet and the precautions they can take to counter the same.

All this sounds good to ensure that not many lose their, way but what if there are still some who indulge in inappropriate behaviour in spite of all the grooming? The educationists agreed to stringent punishment for an act of this nature but at the same time talked about not losing the essence of a punishment, which is to improve a child.

Grammy Bassi, an 18-year-old, shares, "I have never acted irresponsibly on a social networking site. If I am asked one fine day to delete my online account without any rhyme or reason, I might lose confidence in my parents. I had a friend who made an account with a pseudonym after her parents forced her to delete an account after reading an adverse report in the newspaper. That only complicated the situation and is all the more dangerous."

Clearly, having the influence of the Internet in young lives seems inevitable, so the importance seems to be on showing sensitivity towards the child rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. The restrictions do have their own importance but they would not be of much help if introduced without proper counseling and taking children and parents in confidence.

HOME