Chhota Bachha Samaj Ke Humko Na Samjhana Re

On Children's Day, it is important to recall the famous quote, 'Child is the father of man', which comes from William Wordsworth 's poem 'My Heart Leaps Up'. Wordsworth believed that the innocence and wonder children have for the world are essential for a well-rounded adult life. Thus, any education imparted by parents or teachers to children might carry a hint of indoctrination, which is the opposite of true teaching.

Kahlil Gibran proffered, "You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts." Every story shared with children is often a way to lower their guard. When we start with, 'Once a lion met a mouse, and he said...,' the listener thinks, 'Oh, this isn't real; I can just relax and enjoy the tale.' However, within that story is a parable carrying a subtle message. Stories, fables and folktales are often meant to teach or guide, yet the line between teaching and influencing is thin. So, could there be a way for children to learn from parents and teachers without indoctrinating them to think in a certain way?

When Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev 's daughter was 12, she came home from school one day feeling upset. She told him, "You teach so many people so many things, but you haven't taught me anything." Sadhguru replied, "This is all you need to know: don't look down on anybody, and don't look up to anybody."

Often, children aged 11 and above look through us when we try to teach them something. This may be because, in their minds, they can evaluate prospects almost as a management professional would assess a corporate entity's future profit. They perform a kind of discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, which is a valuation method that helps arrive at an investment's current value based on expected future cash flows. Interestingly, our 'valuation' often comes out as zero since we may not offer anything that interests them or benefits them in the future. For example, we may not be able to teach them anything about basketball, table tennis, chess, mathematics, origami, piano, tabla, palaeontology, and dinosaurs unless we are experts in all these subjects, which is nearly impossible. Children can easily find information faster on Google than they can get it from us.

With AI and chatbots entering the picture, indoctrination and teaching by adults lose their appeal completely. Thus, teachers and adults can, at best, serve as facilitators of knowledge rather than as its primary source. John Dewey, a prominent philosopher and educator, saw a teacher's role as that of a guide or facilitator rather than an instructor. The only true teaching is that which allows you to remain free from indoctrination from anyone, ever.

No wonder then Pink Floyd , a hard rock band, wrote decades ago: "We don't need no education/We don't need no thought control...Teachers, leave us kids alone."

Authored by: Sonal Srivastava