Prejudice and Presumption
A Narrative of how Teachers Leave Indelible Marks on Students’ Psyches
Author: Samiksha Agarwal
TW: Homophobia
A teacher, in the most general sense, is a person working in educational institutions, who enables students to reach cognitive, sensory and behavioral aims and gains. In our day, a modern teacher surpasses this definition. The teacher goes beyond just giving lectures and taking exams; teachers play an important role in counselling, observing and evaluating their students as well. After one’s family, a school is the basic socialization institution for the child. Apart from the parents, it’s the teacher who shapes a child’s personality, social as well as academic performance. A teacher’s attitude can help or hurt a student’s motivation, capacity for achievement and well-being.
We expect our education system to develop young people as human beings, but instead we have an education system that oppresses young people, seeing them as needing to be controlled and dominated instead of being seen as fully capable and intelligent. This process is normalized in our schools. I am here to share my personal experience, to spread awareness about institutionalised bullying that continues to be rampant, often disguised as discipline.
I always excelled academically but I was not a very disciplined child according to all the teachers in my school.
During every parent teacher meeting, they would tell my parents that I should be taught to not act like “boys” and behave in a decent manner, as suited to girls.
They had a problem with the length of my skirt, my personality as well as my behaviour. Teachers would continue to ask me to change my habits as it did not suit someone who aced in class. This constant nagging and trying to correct me made me so impulsive and obnoxious that over time I started disliking most of my teachers. I started missing classes to stay out of their sight. Due to their suggestions given to my parents, even my relation with my parents became worse.
Also, a common practice that prevailed in our school was that of favouritism and partiality. Almost all teachers practiced this art effortlessly. As I wasn’t a teacher’s pet, I struggled hard to get what I actually deserved. My earliest memory of favouritism was when I was in Class 2 — I must have been 6 or 7 years old. My teacher disliked me as I used to ask a lot of questions during her class and was a talkative child. One day, some girls were playing in the classroom and suddenly one of them started screaming in pain. I rushed to see what had happened and witnessed that another girl had hit her with a metal water bottle. I hurriedly took out my handkerchief and placed it on her head in order to stop the blood. In the meantime my class teacher arrived and without even listening to the entire event pronounced me guilty of injuring my friend. She was sent to the sickroom while I was taken to the principal’s office. My mother was called immediately and upon seeing her my teacher lashed out at her and said I had gravely injured a classmate and I would be suspended for the same. She also showed her the blood stained uniform, the soiled handkerchief and the water bottle. My mother was unable to understand the situation. I was not even allowed in the room where my mother was having a conversation with my teacher. Luckily, my friend came back from the sickroom and explained how I was the one who was actually trying to help her after she got hit. I was allowed to leave along with my mother but I was very disappointed in my teacher as she did not give me a chance to narrate my side of the story. She simply assumed that I was the one at fault because she did not like me.
A distinct event that I remember is once before our summer vacations commenced, my friend and I hugged each other and wished happy holidays to one another. This scene was witnessed by the vice principal / principal (I do not remember clearly) and she literally took us to her office and called my parents and told them that my behaviour was not normal and that I should be kept in check. I was a student of class 7 perhaps and did not quite understand what she meant by “not normal”. She went on further to exaggerate that both of us were kissing in the school premises which was unacceptable but we were actually not. My parents got confused as to what was happening and what the vice principal meant by not normal. Now when I think about it, I assume she meant I am a lesbian which I am not but even if I were one, I do not understand why she said “not normal.”
There are never ending stories of moral policing and homophobia, the teachers forced us to shape our character in the way they felt was acceptable.
I believe that this should actually be read by the teachers and the authorities so that they can learn how tormented we are and nothing that they did turned out to be “good” for their students. The problem is that teachers still do not realise how all of this is adversely affecting us, breaking our self esteem, our will power and leaving us feeling worthless.
About the Author: Samiksha Agarwal
Samiksha is a final year Engineering student pursuing her course from Techno India, Kolkata. She likes to travel. In her leisure time, she is mostly spotted either drawing or baking.
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