“And if anyone ever stops you, you put your hands up. Drop everything you’re holding and make sure the officer can see your empty hands, crystal clear,” her father announced, in the most authoritative and serious tone he could muster. “I understand daddy,” the 4-year-old replied.
Imagine living in constant fear. Not only for your own life but for your kids’, for your parents, for your friends. It sounds excessive when you read about it, but that exact sentiment is conventional among those that are dark-skinned and live in the United States of America.
George Floyd’s murder did not cause the uproar that echoes through streets around the world today. It only ignited the flame. There was already a fire of anger and resentment burning through the halls of injustice. The Minneapolis police officer’s horrendous act fueled the flame.
A packet of skittles candy. A toy gun. Selling CDs. Reaching for your driver’s license when asked to do so. Jogging. Sleeping in your own house. Wearing a ski mask for having anemia. This got them killed. Numerous black men, women, and kids have lost their lives because their everyday routine struck venal men in blue as suspicious, dangerous.
Can you imagine living in a world where when confronted by the authority for mesial reasons, it wouldn’t matter if you were innocent or guilty? It wouldn’t matter if you were repentant or impenitent. It wouldn’t matter if you were resisting apprehension or if you were complying with all the official’s instructions. It wouldn’t matter if you were veritable or arbitrary. It wouldn’t even matter if you outranked the officer in a formal setting. You wouldn’t have rights or even so much as a voice in what happens to you. Why? Because the amount of melanin content in your skin would have already decided for you.
“Take it to the streets, defund the police. No justice, No Peace.” This chant resonated through the streets of Minneapolis as enraged protesters peacefully marched in dissent of the corrupt justice system.
The Black lives matter movement birthed a turmoil internationally. Belgium, Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Jamaica, Barbados, Mexico, Brazil, Guadeloupe, Australia, Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Bermuda and a plethora of citizens, globally, paid their respects and protested the abhorrent murder of countless black citizens.
“Daddy changed the world,” Floyd’s 6-year-old proudly said while attending a local protest. She shouldn’t have to be put through that though. No child should have to be exposed to the vitriolic oppression the legal system practices callously. In contrast, no parent should have to be put through losing their child at such a tender age. No mother should have to live knowing that the last word her son/daughter breathed was “mamma please help me,” but she couldn’t protect her precious baby.
Families go to grieve their lost, loved one after they’ve yawped over the deceased’s blood sprawled across the coarse concrete, and then, they wait and wait and wait for the police and the coroner and the county to get their accounts straight and their act together. Simultaneously, their privilege sits crooked as a cheap wig would, but that’s okay because they have boundless time to stitch it, on the trot, constantly correct it, until finally, it is immovably flawless.
All that time they spent, simply preparing, holding their whiteness and authority up as mirrors for each other, tuning out the vengeful wails of a mourning community – or adulterating them, rather; and that was their truth. But their truth, need not be our truth.
How the media managed to depict peaceful protests in the state of mens rea, still remains staggering to me. A majority of the audience still remains oblivious to the fact that policemen suspended their uniform for the day to go undercover in masses of protesters to initiate the violence, just so the congregations could be dispersed via the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and brutal force.
Citizens have lost their eyes, they have swollen lips, severely bruised body parts; and for what? For a cause with a goal whose ideology shouldn’t even be up for debate. “All animals are equal but some are more equal,” George Orwell’s Animal farm revealed. This is a replica of what we face today, fighting the same battle that has been being fought for over decades.
Labeled “thugs” by their very own president for practicing their own freedom of speech while the country proudly broadcasted as the whites protested the quarantine with rifles in their hands. That’s the difference. Threatening harm is all right if you’re in a state of distress, you are a respected member of the community after all, aren’t you? Yes; but only if you are white.
“ACAB” was graffitied across countless walls, to -in the most peaceful way speak up about how black communities were unfairly treated and diligently discriminated against. Although that stands true for a majority of corrupt-moraled police officers, it discredits those who were brave enough to stand up for the movement, on the protesters’ side.
Paul Pazen. Nick Travisano. Joseph Wysocki. Jerri Williams. These are names of just a few honest, ethically humane officers that preached the disputed concept of black lives matter. “The good cops are sick to their stomachs,” the New Jersey Chief of police said.
“All lives matter” some angry white supremacists riposted. That is not the purpose of the BLM movement, however- to undermine other races that are. The fundamentalism of humanity dictates that everyone is created equal, your actions rank you otherwise; but how are these gentlemen and women to prove themselves if they are killed before being given the chance to?
The 6-day program at the ‘US Space and Research Center, Huntsville, Alabama’ taught me lessons that I will cherish for the rest of my life. The program was designed to help students with the passion of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) to understand the far reaches of the technology and science in the dazzling universe we live. Their moto was to teach the students of the upcoming generation about important qualities such as leadership, team building, cooperation, agility, perseverance, and physical and mental strength. The participants arrived from all over the globe from over 100 countries. It was an amazing platform to understand people and cultures of many different places and share mine with them.
The program begun with amusing simulators and experiencing the wonders of the gravity and its force. The former Astronauts of few major missions by NASA expounded their experiences and the work that goes behind each mission. We were unfolded to some missions like the Voyager, Pioneer program, Cassini Huygens, Curiosity and Apollo 50. It was a pleasure to be addressed by and to personally meet Robert Lee “hoot” Gibson, also called ‘The Man Who Has Flown Everything’, a former NASA astronaut, a naval officer, an aviator, an aeronautical engineer, a test pilot and a Reno air race pilot.
Fortunately, I was able to witness one of the major training that is performed by pilots and astronauts to prepare and tumble into earth’s atmosphere, called ‘The Astronaut Multi Axis Training’, the 3-axis gimbal for the cardiovascular and equilibrioception training.
We were made to do physical challenges like to climb a 38 feet pole and stand on the disc that could move, rock climbing, wall climbing, field activities and so much more. As it remains a very important factor to be physically as well as mentally prepared for the astronauts and pilots to fly, to learn about their preparedness was enchanting.
Besides these activities, the participants had Incident command challenges (to help the public in case of crisis), ISS missions (To conduct experiments in a space station environment. I received a chance to be the station commander in my mission), several team-building activities, experiencing moonwalk with 1/6th of earths gravity, to fly plane simulators of the F 15 eagle, Fairchild Republic A10, F/A 18 Hornet, Falcon 7X and the Harrier jump jet. We worked in teams and constructed a rocket from coding the projectile in a Raspberry Pie to assembling and flying it successfully. The crew trainers would also conduct fun activities like Trivia night, Movie night, Karaoke night and DJ night.
I was looking forward to this program for a long time and I would like to thank Honeywell and Treamis World School for this opportunity and their constant support. Although this was just a 6-day program, the memories that I gathered and the friends I made will always be close to my heart forever.
One day I met a parent in the school who asked me “how do you manage discipline and children’s behavior in the class?” Her question made me think – as an individual am I disciplining children or even my own little daughter who is less than 2 years…… Often I get upset with her “behavior”. As I thought about my little one, I felt like I am sinking in the sea of gallons of thoughts and emotions. But here are some points that kept floating to the surface my mind. They are sort of in a logical order, but also all inter-related. The origin may be the kind of parenting I received, the schools I attended, reading and research and of course, experience.
I am not in love with the terms “management” and “behavior”. In this context; both have connotations that make me uncomfortable. (The usage of vocab – right words, right context and right time- this seems like another post, for another day) I feel that these words are too heavy for the little ones who are still in the process of exploring themselves and their surroundings. And probably that’s THE reason they end up doing something that’s annoying for so called “ADULTS”.
What is a “problem behavior.?” A behavior is ONLY a problem if it interferes with a child’s safety and learning or the safety and learning of others. Period! A behavior that is annoying to me cannot automatically become a problem. Hey… just think on that for a minute. How often have you reprimanded or disciplined a child for doing something that was annoying you? I’m embarrassed to say how often I have done just that even with my little one (let’s be clear – I am far from perfect in all this….). However, with this definition, a whole bunch of things will STOP being problems — wiggling, slouching in a chair; looking at the ceiling during a story, sitting on their knees instead of their bottoms; — these all cannot be problems unless and until it becomes obvious that these things are dangerous or detrimental to learning.
Manage children as individuals, not as a group. Some of my observations as a class teachers – Jayant concentrates better sitting on a chair than on the floor; so why not allow a chair for him at story time. Others have no problem on the floor. Maya struggles to keep her hands to herself. She can choose a fidget toy during whole group instruction. When you really get to know your students, you know that EVERY child has “special needs.” When the children understand what “fair” means, you can meet those needs without worrying about accusations of favoritism. (Although, sometimes, you have to teach parents and colleagues what “fair” means, too.)
Just as students ask for help with their school work, they need to know it is okay to ask for help with their behavior too. If the child feels that he will do better in line by walking with me, he can. If another one can’t stop chatting with neighbor, I will help her find a place to work alone. Holding my hand, sitting alone, are NOT punishments: I don’t present them as punishments, and I work hard to change the kids’ perception of punishment. These are choices and tools that help children be their best selves.
Look for patterns. If I am constantly correcting the same behavior from the same child at the same time in the same spot : is there a way to break the pattern? If there is pushing in the lineup to wash hands EVERY DAY, how can I change the lineup routine? Can I give them more space? Send some to the bathroom? Make the line go faster? Give them something to do while they wait? Sometimes, changing the pattern means changing what I think I know about something.
Don’t have “systems.”, have relationships. As I re-read these now, it is that simple. There cannot be a single system or routine that can be universally applied to every child at all times in all situations. What works for one does not work for another and makes things even worse for a third.
I know few readers may think that it is so simple to put all this on paper but implementing this will be so very difficult. I don’t have an answer for those people. For me, these truths simply work. I don’t know if they will work for you, too. I would, however, challenge you to try just one of them. Re-define problematic behavior. Find and change a pattern. Focus on your relationship with a challenging child. And then, please, come back here and let me know how it went.
When I took up the job as an English teacher at Treamis World School, my father – a retired teacher, offered me lots of advice including “be friendly but not friends with your students.” I did not understand it anything beyond the wordplay. I now live on campus in quarters adjacent to the students’ dormitory. This means, I hear knock on the door at odd hours. Often they come to complain about something or to share their troubles or to ask for help with studies. Frequently, I even have to play their study partner which involves me asking the questions from their notes and hearing them answer. Although my experiences as a student were not quite like that, there is nothing out of the ordinary in these. But what really surprised me is, often students come to me just for a casual chat. They talk about their family, friends, school and everything that fancies them at the time. But, they don’t specifically ask me for any inputs on those matters. They just want me to listen like a good friend. Being a teacher is more than an instructor. On a typical day, I don the roles of a facilitator, a comforter, a guide, a parent and a friend. Or, perhaps a good friendship should embody all these. I don’t mind being their good sounding board. But often they get carried away and try to gossip about their classmates and teachers. And that is where I draw the line and remind them that I am not their friend. Now my dad’s advice makes sense to me.
I am an enthusiastic mom who loves to involve myself in my child’s learning process. Before my daughter could start her schooling, there used to be relevant questions and dilemma in my mind such as, ‘ What makes a classroom more active- a smart board or a smart mentor? How should a Gen Z classroom look like’, where I understand that the modern schools are expected to use digital tools in active ways.’ I reflected on the thought that is the new generation pattern of learning digressing from the ‘gurukul learning environment’ which I experienced.
Today, I am happy to share with this generation parents, that I am no more confused. I cherish the way my daughter is learning in her school, which is a true international and child-centric place with respect to its learning environment with the same Midas touch of the gurukul system.
I’ve seen that the lingo ‘digital classroom’, many a times, is wrongly perceived as ‘a student can learn better with a tablet in hand than pen-paper’. What it actually should signify is how proactively technology can be integrated in the learning process so as to complement the hands-on tools. No technological device has brains to comprehend and analyse my child’s specific needs. The device needs a master to program it so well that it can be rightly used at the right point of time to give the apt exposure to children, according to their subjective needs. And..the master is none but the mentor. Coming to a very common scenario now-a- days… children are reluctant to learn spellings, write on paper to express their thoughts but rather type in word pad where there is a spell check option. Students should introspect that the automated script for this option is also programmed by the human brains.
I believe that it is the smart mentor whose enthusiastic presence, involvement and attachment with the class adds life to the lessons and help students have a long lasting knowledge. Smart use of smart boards facilitate the process just like a tool as peer group learning, experiential hands on and so on. Each student is unique and magical in his/her own way. It is the expertise of the mentor to move the wand in the right direction to get the magic out of the child!
