A strange case of justice!
The strange case of a teacher punishing five students in Thakurgaon for saving a girl from harassment is but a reflection of the general fascination with punishment as a disciplining tactic in our schools, but the fact that they were punished in the first place, and not rewarded, warrants deeper reflection.
First of all, it's preposterous that a teacher would use his or her authority to do something like that. Teachers are respected and looked up to by their students. They are expected to teach them moral values like honesty, kindness, patience, forgiveness and responsibility. The alleged teacher in this case is a headmaster of a girls' school. One of the girls of his school was being harassed by a boy when the five boys from a nearby school intervened. In an arbitration later, for reasons known only to him, the headmaster found them guilty and had their heads shaved and even reportedly roughed them up—everything that no teacher worth their salt would do.
Secondly, it doesn't require scriptures to tell us that good deeds should be rewarded, or at least acknowledged. Good deeds set good precedents and inspire others to follow suit. This is the kind of message that we need to promote in a society where, unfortunately, apathy is becoming the norm and small, everyday acts of kindness and bravery are seldom recognised. As a result, people are dissuaded from participating in voluntary acts for the common good, even when it comes to saving lives. Teachers can play a big role in changing this scenario as they are at the heart of the all-too-important task of nation-building. They can instil much-needed values and, importantly, a sense of duty in the students which will be enormously beneficial in building a responsible citizenry.
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