Star Q
Recently there has been a lot being said about the crack downs on gangsterism carried out by our police force throughout the country which in a sense is enabling the public to feel a little sense of security. However, when it comes to finding the reasons behind why youngsters are so prone to joining gangster groups, the public is not slow in pointing their fingers towards the education system.
I was following a talk show on Astro Awani recently and I was amazed at how one of the panels was quick to blame the school system for the increase in gangsterism amongst teenagers. He cited reasons like lessons were not interesting enough to capture the attention of these wayward students and also that these students were often segregated into certain racial groups.
There is a certain truth for his reasonings but let us take into account a clearer picture of which the panel of the talk show would probably not have or is not in a position to see the situation up front and personal. We are all fully aware of the 40 plus-mixed-proficiency-mixed-races classrooms that Malaysian teachers in the government lead schools have to face every day, five days every week. And we are also aware that it is very difficult to capture these students attention because of their diverse backgrounds and levels of abilities. A teacher can only go so far to prepare interesting lessons which in any case can only attract the attention of a group of students in the class (in this case, those who really come to school to learn!)
A simple analogy would be the dishes that a mother in a certain household prepares according to her children's favourites. If the mother has five children (and not 40-plus like a school teacher has at any one time!), it would be quite difficult for the mother to prepare five separate dishes according to the fancy of each of her children. She would probably prepare two of her children's favourite dishes and the rest would get their turn in the course of the week. On top of that, there will be days when she prepares dishes that are not her children's favourites probably because they are on a tight budget or that the mother herself would want her own favourite dishes in turn.
Children are picky learners, just as they are picky eaters who pick and choose what and when they want to eat. Students (and parents, especially!) cannot expect teachers to prepare 40 different tasks to cater to their whims and fancies just so that their interest towards the lesson can be triggered. If a teacher takes 3 hours to create and design one set of tasks for the whole class, imagine the time he would take to prepare forty different tasks to cater to all the students; and that is just for one class and one lesson in any one week!
So, just like the situation where children pick and choose the food that their mothers prepare according to what they like or dislike, children also respond similarly to the tasks prepared by their teachers. And finally, before you point your grubby fingers at the school system (and teachers) for every single mistake and mishap that has happened to your children (and they probably will, judging by the way their families back them up!), take a look into your own backyard and see if you have provided a conducive place for them to romp; have you turned your backyard into a rubbish dump, have you allowed weeds to grow and allowed it to become infested with creepy crawlies or have you just left your backyard in a total disarray because you have too many children to attend to!
And for that matter, have you provided some kind of learning environment for your children in your homes (like a mini reading corner), encouraged them to speak using other than their mother tongue, ensured that they have done their school work, checked their exercise books and most of all, kept a vigil eye on whom they befriend?
Just remember this, lest you forget, you after all, are their parents, and you alone are fully responsible for the people that these children will eventually become. So, own up to your responsibilities and stop passing the buck to other people!
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