We often hear words such as freedom and peace, and every individual has their own interpretation of these words. Freedom for some could be sharing their point of view; for some, it could be attending a dance class or music class, and for some, it could mean wearing the clothes they like. When we teach kids freedom, it mostly means giving them space and the right to make their own decisions, they will definitely make mistakes and go wrong at times, but that is the best way for them to learn what freedom means. If we as adults keep spoon-feeding our kids, our kids will never be independent. Kids need their space as much as adults do; they don’t need people telling them what to do all the time. They definitely need to be guided by adults, but they also need to make their own choices.
I knew a kid called Sara, who was 6 years old, and her parents were very strict with her and never let her have junk food, so when her parents would not be around, she would eat so much junk that she would get sick. She knew she didn’t have the freedom to eat junk with her parents, so any chance she would get, she would eat so much junk that she would fall sick. We need to help kids become responsible citizens, and for this, freedom is important. Sometimes we adults go wrong too, and kids should have the freedom and right to correct us.
Peace everybody's need for their mental health and physical health. Peaceful kids are happy kids; peace is essential for people to be happy. If the environment you stay in and work at is peaceful, you will definitely be a happy person. Sometimes we need to compromise a little and push our egos aside for a peaceful environment. Kids look up to adults as their role models, and when they observe our values, they automatically learn them from us. We need to help kids understand that fighting and hitting is not the only way to resolve an issue. We need to teach them ways like communicating their problem with each other, and talking it out would be more helpful. We as teachers sometimes get angry with them and sometimes raise our hands so for them they think it’s normal to shout and raise their hand, for kids to learn values from us we adults need to understand these values and work on them, kids will learn by observing us.
Peace and freedom are essential for all of us, and with these values, we can become better human beings, better teachers and better parents.
Reah Sikand
Drama Teacher at The Doon Girls School - India
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