Collapse Menu
Station
Voter's Platform
Quizees's Platform
Q&A Platform
WriteUps!
Survey
Survey Draft
Respondent Platform
#HomeSchooling #TraditionalSchooling
Traditional schooling any day XD
The Rotaract Club Of JIMS Vasant Kunj was started in the year 2018-19. It is an
institutional based club, which is fully governed by the students of Jagannath
International Management School. And the club has created numerous links
with other Rotaract Clubs around the globe. And they have also been
recognised by many awards from the Rotaract District 3012. In 2019-20,
Rotaract Club Of JIMS Vasant Kunj has been recognised by a social excellence
award from Mr. Sudhir Singla, MLA of Gurgaon. As of 2019, the club has 122
active members. In the past two years the club has taken many initiatives to
help the society. The club aspires to spread happiness among the unprivileged
children. The club’s only goal is to be a part of, bettering the society.
Some of our Main Projects have been mentioned below:
1. Blood Donation Camp: Rotaract Club Of JIMS Vasant Kunj has
organised two annual blood donation camps. A total of 186 units of
blood were collected.
2. Project Seva: Rotaract Club Of JIMS Vasant Kunj, has joined the fight
against hunger. This project was organized six times in the rota year
2019- 20.
3. Mask Donation Drive:
Rotaract Club of JIMS Vasant Kunj organised Mask Donation Drive. The
club had donated masks to the kids living in the slums of Andrews Ganj.
The main motive behind this event was to make the kids aware of the
causes of pollution, how pollution might harm humans and the
precautions of pollution.
4. Swachhta Programme:
The Rotaract Club of JIMS Vasant Kunj has organised a program called
“SWACHHTA HI SEWA” in our college campus. All the students joined
their hands together for this good cause. The students took a broom,
pan & the dustbin and they collected all the waste near our college.
5. Plantation Drive:
Every year, two Plantation Drives are organised by Rotaract Club Of JIMS
Vasant Kunj. The first event was organised in Vasant Kunj DDA Flats. A
total of 30 samplings were planted. And the second event was organised
in Sanjay Van. This event witnessed the footfall of more than 300 people
and as per the stats more than 250 planting spots were covered on a
single day.
6. Project Ullas:
Rotaract Club of JIMS Vasant Kunj went to celebrate Diwali with the
children in slums. They distributed sweets, toffees, chocolates and diyas
to everyone and they celebrated Diwali with a lot of fun.
7. Stationery Drive:
Rotaract Club of JIMS Vasant Kunj organized a Stationary Drive for the
underprivileged children in Andrews Ganj Slums. Each child was
provided with notebooks, pencil pouches, scales, pencils, erasers,
sharpeners and crayons by the members of the drive.
8. Clothes Donation Drive:
Three clothes donation drives were conducted by the Rotaract Club Of
JIMS Vasant Kunj. The club had collected a bunch of warm clothes to
provide the poor people with a bit of warmth in chilly winter. The
Rotaractors gave away the collected woollens to the underprivileged
people near AIIMS Hospital and also near Green Park, Delhi.
"College life was a lot of fun, though problems come as fast as the cheetah runs, but its what motivates me to do the best I can"
One of the most interesting stages in life that gives you an opportunity to explore is the ‘college phase.’ Life at college is the time when the teenage years end and we all dive deep into the ocean of new beginnings and possibilities. This golden period better equips you for all the challenges you’ll face in life and creates a strong foundation of knowledge.
My experience as a first year student of LSR and the experience of bring bubbled at home due to COVID-19 taught me one thing ,“Life is unpredictable.”
You can be sunflowers as college might be good, it might be bad, it might be weird, and it might not interest you, but expect anything to happen.
For example, you might have a wonderful internship this moment, and be fired the very next moment. College life prepares you for all of this. It is a Melting pot, with perfect blend of joy and hardships. A melting pot where all cultures melt to give you “Exposure”. You meet different people, you interact with them, you learn about their cultures and grow as a person. You will understand how to talk to different people, how to judge their behaviour, thus helping you with important life skills.
You learn to sit through a boring lecture; you try to cope up with the surprisingly strenuous syllabus, and you have the opportunity to learn from some great research minds. Academia, as they say, never lets you go free. People might try to motivate you by telling that you need to study only through your school years and chill during the college life, but that isn’t true.
Another life lesson you will remember – the learning never ends. You find campus groups or student groups where you can explore your co-curricular skills along with many other students like you. You share common interests, and thus you share common ideas. There might have been a time where you would have had to give up drawing for your Board Examination Preparation.
Trust me, once you get into a good college, you will get an opportunity to be the artist you always wanted to be through probably a fine arts campus group. You could be that director, you could be that vocalist, you could be the dancer of your dreams – college is the Santa Claus that keeps on giving all these wonderful opportunities while you’re in it. There are also campus festivals, which draw a lot of fun crowd from other colleges and let you show off your skills. You could also enjoy with the celebrities who are invited to perform, or even show off your technical prowess in a tech festival.
And obviously, the seniors. If I were asked to play a icebreaker round and had to choose between Friends and Seniors. SENIORS!, I would scream that. Seniors of your societies or even departments are the people who mould you. Seeing them is learning as they are the best influencers in College life. Even in a party, they teach you lot. How to balance everything ?
So, one fine day when you see pictures from the college of you and your friends having a good time, you’ll definitely land up smiling silently. That’s the beauty of college life. It stays with you long after you’ve climbed those ladders of success and forgotten the name of that cute crush you used to drool over.
Life at college is a wild mish-mash of experiences, what with all sort of hilarious stuff going down in the hostels!
The life at college is a time when you can decide your career. It’s a time of dreams and innumerable paths. You can work for a non-profit organization and even gain the satisfaction of being a humanitarian. The point is that you are free to try out these new things and no one is going to forcefully control the decisions you make. Every nook and corner of the college you’d find a peaceful spot full of natural surroundings, who’s value you will only realize once you graduate from your campus. You will always remember the early morning fog, your hostel’s adorable “puppy” or even your grumpy stationery shopkeeper and the morning ice teas of Nescafe as I miss it right now.
Uncertainty: The COVID and answer to all our questions
New sessions, results, new college, societies, new city. All the dreams and hopes were shattered due to the Pandemic. And the only answer to our questions is ‘ Uncertainty’. The on field experiences of college campus can’t be fulfilled by online classes. The loss of morning chit chat session about politics and fashion with cheese sandwich and ice tea can’t be fixed.
Circumstances and Human Race has always been close relatives as we “ HOOMANS” can fight all odds and still be productive. Colleges have offered students hell lot of opportunities with work from Home culture, which made the productivity race a proton factor.
Well, we need to understand that the ‘new normal’ has to be the reality and the race of productivity sometimes needs to be balanced.
So, remember that there will be moments that carry a lot of sentimental value and you can’t help but procrastinate about the normal life. But even the friendships you make in college life and through the online classes is the most important aspect. These people will give you strength and be your knights in shining armor all your life. The time you spend with your friends, playing Mafia, Poker, or arguing about any random topic, your regular lecture “ online bunking” to watch a new release of your favorite star, will always stay in your heart. Planning road trips for post covid, and impulsive binge watching —all these things make you more emotional. So, just adapt to situations now and hope for the best.
The new education policy announced today is trying to gear up for the changed education reality by extending flexibility, graded levels of autonomy and trying to increase the level of knowledge application along with a broader skillset. One major aspect to look out for will be how this policy is implemented.
The new policy aims for universalisation of education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030 and aims to raise GER in higher education to 50 per cent by 2025.
I think this would turn out to be a great change. Overall, the NEP 2020 is a step in the right direction. It pushes towards a more learning-centric approach to education and it has the potential to improve the quality of education in India.
The pandemic had resulted in a halt over everyone’s education, careers, livelihoods, but for the fraudsters in Sydney. These grifters have a fresh way to make their living now, and they chose the Chinese students who’ve been stranded in the unknown land, away from their homes as their new means of income.
The process they follow as these scam artists after choosing their victims, they tend to blackmail them to release sensitive information. In order to avoid that the victims are forces to stage their own kidnapping and make the abduction seem genuine and send this recording as a proof to their relatives in China which will help them obtain the ransom. They deliver the messages to thousands of random phone numbers purporting to be from a messenger service. It is a robocalls and says a package needs to be delivered.
On Tuesday, the police in New South Wales confirmed of eight such cases had occurred with ransom one case confirmed that the family paid $2 million and in others the price range was between a few thousand dollars to more than $200,000, of kidnapping which never took place. A young, 21-year old woman was a victim of such a scam. The video she sent to her family in China seemed genuine to them where the student seemed to be in pain and pleaded for their help in an unreleased location in Australia. A few hours later the female’s housemate information the police in Sydney on July 14, she was found be safe at a hotel where she lured by the perpetrators.
The victims in Australia return calls from someone who greets in Mandarin and ask for their basic identity information or that they have been implicated in a crime in China as the person claims to be speaking from the Chinese Government or the Chinese embassy or some other authority. In some cases, the students were also persuaded to not to contact their families for days in order to root a possibility that the student might in danger.
What seemed unusual to the police that after the ransom was paid, the victims were found safe and sound the very next day. The reason the affected students did not report this crime was that they felt ashamed of reporting it in the first place, still traumatised and frightened of the fact that their information might be leaked or that their parents won’t spare them.
"The victims of virtual kidnappings we have engaged are traumatised by what has occurred, believing they have placed themselves, and their loved ones, in real danger," said NSW Police.
According to the advocate for the international students in Australia, made a statement where the person assured that the international students have been the most vulnerable amidst this unfortunate situation. The reason of this he claimed to be was the student’s reliance on casual work and their exclusion from the government welfare.
"Students can do two important things to protect themselves against these types of crimes - firstly, be aware they exist and secondly, ask for help early if they think it might be happening to them or someone they know," advised the NSW Police.
Now there also have been new reports from New Zealand and the United States.
Ambitious, young aspirants, striving to achieve their dreams move away from the comfort of their own homes and set foot in a foreign land to start their journey. The very experience traumatizes a few, not knowing how to deal with it or whom to turn into for help. It is unfortunate to see such bilks are reprobates are on the lookout for such naïve persons to make their living through them. The Government should stringent the laws and take firm actions.
#coronavirus #sydney #kidnapping #virtualkidnapping #chinesestudents #internationalstudents #australia
Firstly, Covid has given a huge lift to online learning both in the metros and non-metros. Online education, for instance, has got a major boost. Educational institutions, business organisations among others, have taken online education to a new level by offering classes, coaching and courses in an innovative way to keep their audience hooked at these times of lockdown. In India, students and professionals are signing up for online classes- from entrance exams.
Secondly, we have become more hygiene conscious. Yes, you heard it right. People have started taking personal hygiene more seriously. The ritual of washing hands, sanitizing things before use, that started as a compulsion is becoming a habit. According to IANS C-VOTER Gallup International Association Corona.
Work from Home (WFH) is the third major change that has become a part of our lives. Well, honestly speaking it was never a new concept. Many IT companies in the West and even in India has been practicising it with perfection. Covid 19 has taken it to another level with almost all companies asking its employees to WFH.
So, Corona has changed our life drastically. We never saw something like this coming. Who knew from “keys....check” to “keys, hand santisizer, masks, gloves....etc.” but changes are a part of life. We have live this way now, at least for a while. But Covid has helped us to change many things in our life, in a good way.
CYBERBULLYING
The humanitarian crisis has cultivated a ‘New Normal’ vitality for all of us. Ranging from quarantine greenhouse dates to online classes and good-byes, we all have harmonized to the culture. Technology played an integral role in maintaining the continuity as it brought new dimensions to the responsibilities of educators and mentors.
But we need self-introspection to rethink the ethical use of technology. If Zoom is that easy to hack into, it’s likely to expect kids and teens trying to follow suit. The era where gadgets are the ‘toys’ for the kids plus the ‘Lockdown’ has increased the fear of ‘Cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is defined as “sending or posting harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices”. Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies, such as e-mail, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal Websites, and defamatory online personal polling Websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm.
In India, an estimated 71 million children aged between 5-11 years access the Internet on devices of their family members, constituting about 14 percent of the country's active Internet user base of over 500 million. Two-thirds of internet users in India are in the age group of 12-29 year (Data shared by the Internet & Mobile Association of India). Data and statistics have highlighted that post lockdown, the internet has amplified the risk of cyberbullying, including online discrimination for children and young people.
Cyberbullying ranges from flaming to Catfishing.
Flaming is a confrontation often happens in online spaces, which entails one or more bullies attacking a particular person for their views or comments.
Exclusion is singling-out of the targeted person and to purposefully exclude them from chats.
Cyberstalking is a type of harassment that involves one or more bullies going to great lengths to gather information about a particular person, continually frightening or threatening them, following them around social media and other sites, and potentially crossing the line into physical stalking.
Outing is the malicious release of private information about a person to embarrass or humiliate by spreading rumours about someone’s personal life, sexuality etc. through pictures, screenshots, videos.
Masquerading is creating a fake identity to harass someone anonymously or to impersonate someone else, often called “fraping,” such as pretending to be the victim or a significant other to create a negative reputation for the victim.
Trolling is to provoke victims through the use of insults, controversial topics or off-topic posts into acting out in a similarly angry way.
Catfishing refers specifically to those cyberbullies who steal photos and information from a victim’s social media account and recreate a fake one of their own, mimicking and pretending to be the victim.
Students with higher risk of being bullied are often targeted because of their visible appearance,
Of all children who are bullied, more than one third reported bias-based bullying, a form of bullying that targets someone because of who they are or what they look like. Potential victims include LGBTQ youth, students with disabilities, and religious students, especially those who wear symbols of their religion. Students with a higher risk of being bullied are often targeted because of their visible appearance.
Girls and young women are targeted due to body image or sexuality, and are more often harassed over social media. Girls are more likely than boys to be victims of cyberbullying; bullying statistics show that 38% of girls who use social media report being bullied online, compared to 26% of boys.
Cyberbullying Self-Harm
If left unchecked, the effects of cyberbullying can lead to extreme stress and depression, and students who are victims may feel drawn to self-harm as a result of their experiences.
However, the victims of bullying are not the only ones who are vulnerable to self-harm and suicidal behaviours.
Young people who cyberbully others are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing these feelings than those who don’t.
Cyberbullying can be devastating for victims and their families. The psychological harm inflicted by cyberbullying, just like bullying, is reflected in low self-esteem, school failure, anger, anxiety, depression, school avoidance, school violence, and suicide.
It is even possible that the damage from cyberbullying would be greater than bullying because there is no escape for the victims; harmful material could be easily preserved as well as quickly and widely spread.
For the cyberbullies, the consequences of their actions can be very severe, including being suspended or expelled from school and being removed from sports teams, clubs, and activities. Certain types of cyberbullying can even be considered criminal.
What did students do after they were cyberbullied?
Apparently, only a few try to take revenge; the majority of students chose not to inform anyone. Some chose to get away from the cyberbully. Few try to take revenge on the cyberbully or bully others.
Some inform parents and siblings. Few students reported to school adults (e.g., teachers, school administrators).
“If you were cyberbullied at school or at home, would you report the incident to a school counselor, teacher, or administrator?”
‘NO’, that’s what most of the students answer.
The secret of Cyberbullying being SECRETIVE
The fear of not being understood, made fun of kept most of the teens away from reporting to their educators. The thought of them getting into trouble either because of being at fault or for no reason made them escape from the best advice.
‘Why are you exacerbating the problem?
Parents remarks like: ‘We are restricting your access to technology. So, No Phone, No Social Media.”
Some thought it was “no big deal.”
The above reasons reflect the importance of teaching students about, ‘ Cyber threats’.
What are students' beliefs about cyberbullying? Why do they think people behave this way?
Some think various factors cause the problem, ranging from feeling insecure, angry, jealous, or mean, to feeling bored or having family issues. A troubling finding, however, is that the majority believe that cyberbullies do it for fun.
Even more disturbing is the fact that one in five perceived cyberbullying as a “cool” act. This might be explained by students' perception that technology is exciting. These students might think that using it for aggressive acts is creative. Further, they might not realize the seriousness of cyberbullying.
For example, one student's narrative, “I bully online and it does not mean anything,” demonstrates that some fail to see the negative effect of cyberbullying or bullying on victims. The actual reason behind this perception is unclear; nonetheless, it deserves our serious consideration because this is a potentially dangerous perception.
Some think that nothing can be done about Cyber victims. Some summarize this feeling: “No one cares. Deal with it yourself.” Some hold the belief that this is a serious problem and needs to be stopped.
Another serious theme emerged relating to freedom of speech. One in six students considered that people have the right to say anything they want, even if what they say hurts someone or violates someone's privacy.
So, How can we combat cyberbullying yet respect and exercise our freedom of expression?
Although we understand that there is no absolute freedom of speech, balancing the two is the ultimate question.
One out of three students believes that what happens online should stay online which reflects a general perception that cyberspace is separated from the real world. But what we do online affects what we do in real life.
Designing educational systems: Creating our future in a changing world
Addressing cyberbullying should be a collective effort on the part of schools, families, students, and society. Because cyberbullying happens outside of school boundaries, schools might direct such issues back to parents, saying that they have no legal jurisdiction. However, cyberbullying can be rooted in school or vice versa, even if the incidents appear to be initiated using school property. This requires schools to consider the development of comprehensive programs to fight cyberbullying, including detailed and unified policies as well as effective programs to educate students.
Establishment of Systematic Programs
First, schools need to establish systematic programs to stop cyberbullying. Such programs should develop strong policies on both traditional bullying and cyberbullying.
Administrators should investigate current acceptable-use policies for technology (e.g., mobile, Internet) in the schools. Telling others such as school adults or family members remains an effective strategy for combating cyberbullying.
It is important to establish easy and multiple ways of reporting. For example, we could create help lines (e.g., a phone line), e‐mail, or Web links, and provide a box or similar device in hot spots in schools so students can report incidents or offer suggestions anonymously.
Teaching about Cyberbullying
Second, schools should educate school adults, students, and parents about cyberbullying and provide clear procedures to follow when cyberbullying occurs.
At the fundamental level, adults, including teachers and parents, need to keep pace with new technology to understand how students communicate and how cyberbullying happens. Effective strategies, therefore, need to be included in school adults' professional development opportunities. Schools can also provide opportunities for parents to learn such strategies.
Similarly, approaches to cyberbullying issues need to go beyond the one-time workshop mode for students and be part of regular curriculum learning.
Such education can take place in different school situations, including classrooms, assemblies, and continuing education programs. For example, schools can use forums not only to mediate between cyberbullies and cyber victims, but also to offer opportunities for students to develop adaptive skills, such as dealing with emotional conflict and building positive behavioral patterns. Such forums help to build a strong rapport and trustworthy relationships between students and school adults as well as among students.
Responsibilities associated with the use of Technology
Students, a key group in fighting cyberbullying, need to learn responsibilities associated with the use of technology. They should be aware of the consequences of misuse of technology so that responsible behaviours can be promoted at an early age. They need to understand the dangers that exist and the importance of getting help from responsible adults when cyberbullying occurs.
PANDEMIC & MAKING THE BEST USE OF IT
Cyberbullying has been on the rise before lock down – some reports suggest that just 20% of bullying takes place at school now. The strain placed on mental health caused by being confined to the home for weeks at a time could be making matters worse. These unusual circumstances means that some kids may be venting their frustration online – and their classmates become the targets.
With the aim of addressing these concerns, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and UNESCO New Delhi Office developed an information booklet titled “Safe online learning in the times of COVID-19” to raise awareness of students and teachers on staying safe online. The booklet will be instrumental in keeping children, young people safe online through basic do’s, and don’ts that will help parents and educators teach their children how to use the internet safely.
“UNESCO is committed to ensure access to safe, inclusive and health promoting learning environments for all children. It is imperative that websites, digital platforms, social media platforms are free of Cyberbullying, if children have to access quality education. This information booklet titled ‘Safe online learning in times of Covid19’ highlights the negative consequences of cyberbullying and ways to eliminate and prevent the same”. UNESCO and NCERT are pleased to develop this booklet and hope that it acts as a valuable tool in creating a safer online environment.”
-Eric Falt, Director and Representative, UNESCO New Delhi
Pandemic and Parents : Working together
With COVID-19 closing schools in many states, children are turning to online schooling and with this comes a huge increase in device use by most children and teens. This is actually a wonderful opportunity for parents to spend some time talking with their child as to what cyberbullying means, and to talk through issues their child may be experiencing. It is also a great time for parents to establish guidelines and take the time to check-in and ensure that their child’s online behaviour is acceptable.
Younger children and tweens really should not be having “privacy” from their parents online. Parents need to be empowered to oversee what their elementary and middle school children are doing and with whom they are chatting.
To think there wouldn’t be any cyberbullying during this time would be unrealistic, especially with so many children having excess frustration and a lot of free time. There will be children who take that frustration out on other kids. Parents need to be conscious of this possibility and schedule check-ins both to ensure their child is okay and behaving appropriately.
With parents and children home, most households are getting back to family dinners. Parents can use those dinners not just to discuss cyberbullying but to talk about how their children are feeling in general — if they are feeling isolated, lonely or stressed.
Although our concern is of course cyberbullying, what we are more likely to see is kids reaching out to one another as a support system. The upside to having all this connectivity is that sad and lonely children may actually have increased support.
We often see this in children who are hospitalized. They can feel very isolated. Having that virtual connection, the online social availability of their friends, really helps combat some of those feelings of loneliness and isolation. The hope would be that the social aspect of the connection that's going on in many homes right now with increased device use will outpace any uptick in cyberbullying. But it will be up to parents to make sure they are providing the guidance and supervision necessary to ensure that these online interactions are positive ones.
Human race has proven to overcome from all extremes the world has gone through may be it is a Plague, World Wars, Great Recession and many more. We have learnt lessons and we need to adapt and evolve every time and it’s a never ending process. This reminds of words of great genius Albert Einstein that, “ Everything is Relative.”
Einstein gifted us with his inventions during the pandemic. Let us wait for the next ‘Science Genius’ from this Pandemic. It can be ‘YOU’. So, Let us work together to prevent the online propagated method of bullying.
#BringBackECA #DelhiUniversity
CYBERBULLYING AND STUDENTS
The humanitarian crisis has cultivated a ‘New Normal’ vitality for all of us. Ranging from quarantine greenhouse dates to online classes and good-byes, we all have harmonized to the culture. Technology played an integral role in maintaining the continuity as it brought new dimensions to the responsibilities of educators and mentors.
But we need self-introspection to rethink the ethical use of technology. If Zoom is that easy to hack into, it’s likely to expect kids and teens trying to follow suit. The era where gadgets are the ‘toys’ for the kids plus the ‘Lockdown’ has increased the fear of ‘Cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is defined as “sending or posting harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices”.
Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies, such as e-mail, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal Websites, and defamatory online personal polling Websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm.
In India, an estimated 71 million children aged between 5-11 years access the Internet on devices of their family members, constituting about 14 percent of the country's active Internet user base of over 500 million. Two-thirds of internet users in India are in the age group of 12-29 year (Data shared by the Internet & Mobile Association of India). Data and statistics have highlighted that post lockdown, the internet has amplified the risk of cyberbullying, including online discrimination for children and young people.
Cyberbullying ranges from flaming to Catfishing.
• Flaming is a confrontation often happens in online spaces, which entails one or more bullies attacking a particular person for their views or comments.
• Exclusion is singling-out of the targeted person and to purposefully exclude them from chats.
• Cyberstalking is a type of harassment that involves one or more bullies going to great lengths to gather information about a particular person, continually frightening or threatening them, following them around social media and other sites, and potentially crossing the line into physical stalking.
• Outing is the malicious release of private information about a person to embarrass or humiliate by spreading rumours about someone’s personal life, sexuality etc. through pictures, screenshots, videos.
• Masquerading is creating a fake identity to harass someone anonymously or to impersonate someone else, often called “fraping,” such as pretending to be the victim or a significant other to create a negative reputation for the victim.
• Trolling is to provoke victims through the use of insults, controversial topics or off-topic posts into acting out in a similarly angry way.
• Catfishing refers specifically to those cyberbullies who steal photos and information from a victim’s social media account and recreate a fake one of their own, mimicking and pretending to be the victim.
Students with higher risk of being bullied are often targeted because of their visible appearance,
Of all children who are bullied, more than one third reported bias-based bullying, a form of bullying that targets someone because of who they are or what they look like. Potential victims include LGBTQ youth, students with disabilities, and religious students, especially those who wear symbols of their religion. Students with a higher risk of being bullied are often targeted because of their visible appearance.
Girls and young women are targeted due to body image or sexuality, and are more often harassed over social media. Girls are more likely than boys to be victims of cyberbullying; bullying statistics show that 38% of girls who use social media report being bullied online, compared to 26% of boys.
Cyberbullying Self-Harm
If left unchecked, the effects of cyberbullying can lead to extreme stress and depression, and students who are victims may feel drawn to self-harm as a result of their experiences.
However, the victims of bullying are not the only ones who are vulnerable to self-harm and suicidal behaviours.
Young people who cyberbully others are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing these feelings than those who don’t.
Cyberbullying can be devastating for victims and their families. The psychological harm inflicted by cyberbullying, just like bullying, is reflected in low self-esteem, school failure, anger, anxiety, depression, school avoidance, school violence, and suicide.
It is even possible that the damage from cyberbullying would be greater than bullying because there is no escape for the victims; harmful material could be easily preserved as well as quickly and widely spread.
For the cyberbullies, the consequences of their actions can be very severe, including being suspended or expelled from school and being removed from sports teams, clubs, and activities. Certain types of cyberbullying can even be considered criminal.
What did students do after they were cyberbullied?
Apparently, only a few try to take revenge; the majority of students chose not to inform anyone. Some chose to get away from the cyberbully. Few try to take revenge on the cyberbully or bully others.
Some inform parents and siblings. Few students reported to school adults (e.g., teachers, school administrators).
“If you were cyberbullied at school or at home, would you report the incident to a school counsellor, teacher, or administrator?”
‘NO’, that’s what most of the students answer.
The secret of Cyberbullying being SECRETIVE
The fear of not being understood, and made fun of keeps most of the teens away from reporting to their educators. The thought of them getting into trouble either because of being at fault or for no reason made them escape from the best advice.
‘Why are you exacerbating the problem?
Parents remarks like: ‘We are restricting your access to technology. So, No Phone, No Social Media.”
Some thought it was “no big deal.”
The above reasons reflect the importance of teaching students about, ‘ Cyber threats’.
What are students' beliefs about cyberbullying? Why do they think people behave this way?
Some think various factors cause the problem, ranging from feeling insecure, angry, jealous, or mean, to feeling bored or having family issues. A troubling finding, however, is that the majority believe that cyberbullies do it for fun.
Even more disturbing is the fact that one in five perceived cyberbullying as a “cool” act. This might be explained by students' perception that technology is exciting. These students might think that using it for aggressive acts is creative. Further, they might not realize the seriousness of cyberbullying.
For example, one student's narrative, “I bully online and it does not mean anything,” demonstrates that some fail to see the negative effect of cyberbullying or bullying on victims. The actual reason behind this perception is unclear; nonetheless, it deserves our serious consideration because this is a potentially dangerous perception.
Some think that nothing can be done about Cyber victims. Some summarize this feeling: “No one cares. Deal with it yourself.” Some hold the belief that this is a serious problem and needs to be stopped.
Another serious theme emerged relating to freedom of speech. One in six students considered that people have the right to say anything they want, even if what they say hurts someone or violates someone's privacy.
So, How can we combat cyberbullying yet respect and exercise our freedom of expression?
Although we understand that there is no absolute freedom of speech, balancing the two is the ultimate question.
One out of three students believes that what happens online should stay online which reflects a general perception that cyberspace is separated from the real world. But what we do online affects what we do in real life.
Designing educational systems: Creating our future in a changing world
Addressing cyberbullying should be a collective effort on the part of schools, families, students, and society. Because cyberbullying happens outside of school boundaries, schools might direct such issues back to parents, saying that they have no legal jurisdiction. However, cyberbullying can be rooted in school or vice versa, even if the incidents appear to be initiated using school property. This requires schools to consider the development of comprehensive programs to fight cyberbullying, including detailed and unified policies as well as effective programs to educate students.
Establishment of Systematic Programs
First, schools need to establish systematic programs to stop cyberbullying. Such programs should develop strong policies on both traditional bullying and cyberbullying.
Administrators should investigate current acceptable-use policies for technology (e.g., mobile, Internet) in the schools. Telling others such as school adults or family members remains an effective strategy for combating cyberbullying.
It is important to establish easy and multiple ways of reporting. For example, we could create help lines (e.g., a phone line), e‐mail, or Web links, and provide a box or similar device in hot spots in schools so students can report incidents or offer suggestions anonymously.
Teaching about Cyberbullying
Second, schools should educate school adults, students, and parents about cyberbullying and provide clear procedures to follow when cyberbullying occurs.
At the fundamental level, adults, including teachers and parents, need to keep pace with new technology to understand how students communicate and how cyberbullying happens. Effective strategies, therefore, need to be included in school adults' professional development opportunities. Schools can also provide opportunities for parents to learn such strategies.
Similarly, approaches to cyberbullying issues need to go beyond the one-time workshop mode for students and be part of regular curriculum learning.
Such education can take place in different school situations, including classrooms, assemblies, and continuing education programs. For example, schools can use forums not only to mediate between cyberbullies and cyber victims, but also to offer opportunities for students to develop adaptive skills, such as dealing with emotional conflict and building positive behavioral patterns. Such forums help to build a strong rapport and trustworthy relationships between students and school adults as well as among students.
Responsibilities associated with the use of Technology
Students, a key group in fighting cyberbullying, need to learn responsibilities associated with the use of technology. They should be aware of the consequences of misuse of technology so that responsible behaviours can be promoted at an early age. They need to understand the dangers that exist and the importance of getting help from responsible adults when cyberbullying occurs.
PANDEMIC & MAKING THE BEST USE OF IT
Cyberbullying has been on the rise before lock down – some reports suggest that just 20% of bullying takes place at school now. The strain placed on mental health caused by being confined to the home for weeks at a time could be making matters worse. These unusual circumstances means that some kids may be venting their frustration online – and their classmates become the targets.
With the aim of addressing these concerns, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and UNESCO New Delhi Office developed an information booklet titled “Safe online learning in the times of COVID-19” to raise awareness of students and teachers on staying safe online. The booklet will be instrumental in keeping children, young people safe online through basic do’s, and don’ts that will help parents and educators teach their children how to use the internet safely.
“UNESCO is committed to ensure access to safe, inclusive and health promoting learning environments for all children. It is imperative that websites, digital platforms, social media platforms are free of Cyberbullying, if children have to access quality education. This information booklet titled ‘Safe online learning in times of Covid19’ highlights the negative consequences of cyberbullying and ways to eliminate and prevent the same”. UNESCO and NCERT are pleased to develop this booklet and hope that it acts as a valuable tool in creating a safer online environment.”
-Eric Falt, Director and Representative, UNESCO New Delhi
With COVID-19 closing schools in many states, children are turning to online schooling and with this comes a huge increase in device use by most children and teens. This is actually a wonderful opportunity for parents to spend some time talking with their child as to what cyberbullying means, and to talk through issues their child may be experiencing. It is also a great time for parents to establish guidelines and take the time to check-in and ensure that their child’s online behaviour is acceptable.
Younger children and tweens really should not be having “privacy” from their parents online. Parents need to be empowered to oversee what their elementary and middle school children are doing and with whom they are chatting.
To think there wouldn’t be any cyberbullying during this time would be unrealistic, especially with so many children having excess frustration and a lot of free time. There will be children who take that frustration out on other kids. Parents need to be conscious of this possibility and schedule check-ins both to ensure their child is okay and behaving appropriately.
With parents and children home, most households are getting back to family dinners. Parents can use those dinners not just to discuss cyberbullying but to talk about how their children are feeling in general — if they are feeling isolated, lonely or stressed.
Although our concern is of course cyberbullying, what we are more likely to see is kids reaching out to one another as a support system. The upside to having all this connectivity is that sad and lonely children may actually have increased support.
We often see this in children who are hospitalized. They can feel very isolated. Having that virtual connection, the online social availability of their friends, really helps combat some of those feelings of loneliness and isolation. The hope would be that the social aspect of the connection that's going on in many homes right now with increased device use will outpace any uptick in cyberbullying. But it will be up to parents to make sure they are providing the guidance and supervision necessary to ensure that these online interactions are positive ones.
Human race has proven to overcome from all extremes the world has gone through may be it is a Plague, World Wars, Great Recession and many more. We have learnt lessons and we need to adapt and evolve every time and it’s a never ending process. This reminds of words of great genius Albert Einstein that, “ Everything is Relative.”
Einstein gifted us with his inventions during the pandemic. Let us wait for the next ‘Science Genius’ from this Pandemic. It can be ‘YOU’. So, Let us work together to prevent the online propagated method of bullying.
The normalcy till December 2019 is dearly missed by the people across the globe, with no restrictions, stepping out at any time of the day, be it to simply hang out with friends or to sit and have a little “me time” at the café. The sudden outbreak of the deadly virus has affected people of all age groups. The normalcy was an excuse for some to escape the toxic environment of home and take a break from the reality. Alas, 2020 wasn’t in their favour.
Since the lockdown had been implement worldwide, the aim was to eradicate the spread of the virus and eventually, the virus itself. Confining themselves at home, the mental health wasn’t given much of a thought, with the routine life coming to a halt altogether.
For children, they found comfort and pastime in extreme exposure in front of Television screens, and gadgets supporting the usage of internet. In a study it was found for such a prolonged exposure can lead to lower the child’s self-esteem with the internet proving out to lead in an addiction disorder in many. With limited external interaction, the “indoor pollution” can affect the development of a child and hence results in limited cognitive abilities. Internet is a home to cyberattacks as we as cyber bullying, henceforth, affecting the mental of a child. Therefore, the children plunge themselves in an ocean of depression, anxiety, avoidance behaviour and even PTSD. The same set of problems are faced by children who have been confined in the hospitals from being infected by the deadly virus, especially with the rise of reports in children being sexually harassed during the confinement, the child lives through a traumatic experience without anyone to turn into, apart from their family takes a toll on the child.
A drastic impact proved to be on students and adults living away from home and migrant laborers stranded in their temporary homes, for those living on rent, it put them in a tough situation for them to pay the rent before the regulation of work from home came into effect. Most adults drove into the decoy of satisfaction by online pornography. The disruption in most people’s sexual lives persuaded the individuals to use such platform to cope up from the on-going stress of rendered jobless with a deadly virus outbreak, living afar from their beloveds, which sadly could lead to depressive symptoms.
Another age group drastically affected by this were the elderly and sick. For those who were assigned caregivers to look after the sick, now were rendered helpless and alone in their homes. Such people are also known to have a higher risk of acquiring an infection, and for those who continued with their jobs were left in wonderment if they weren’t the carriers of the infection which could affect them and their families.
This year also saw an alarming rise within the cases of Domestic Violence alone. Between March 25 and May 31, 2020, 3,11,477 complaints were recorded which were made by women. The complaints recorded within a 68-day period were higher than those recorded between March and May in last 10 years. Delhi and U.P. saw the highest number of complains, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. According to the data, 86% of women who were victims to the violence during that period never sought help, 77% victims didn’t mention the dreadfulness of the situation to anyone. Women faced Physical, Sexual and even both. The highest number of sufferers documented were the ones who faced Sexual Abuse, which summed up to about 80.6 who never dared to tell anyone. For those who had reported the incidents were 14% but only 7% reached out to relevant authorities, but more than 90% of the victims sought help only from their immediate family.
A study was conducted by a team of researchers via an online survey which was proliferated over the social media between May 9 to May 15, 2020, using an anonymous Google form. The team used items like anxiety, depressive symptoms, symptoms of internet addiction, pornography addiction, experiences of hostility, changes in food and sleep habits, social empathy and relationship quality, to construct the overall picture of social and psychological experience during the lockdown period. They also conducted 14 qualitative interviews from May 10 to May 17, 2020. The subjects were self-selected by broad social media invitations. The survey included a total of 282 Indian adults, in which ¾ of people belonged to the age group of 30 years and younger. Following the figures, 88% were educated beyond the 12th standard about 81% were urban residents.
The concluded with depressive symptoms, higher amongst those who an addiction towards pornography. The presence of depressive and anxiety symptoms was expected and linked to a higher chance of self-reported sleep disorder and changes in food patterns. For those who were connected with their loved ones and shared their vulnerabilities shoed more social empathy and better social relationships.
The researchers concluded by stating, “To our knowledge, this is the first study to look at the differential psychological impact of the lockdown across different social groups in India. Our study also highlighted a few positive aspects of the lockdown, underscoring the increase in social empathy and strengthened social bonds among Indian adults.”
Image source-https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/hidden-symptoms-of-stress.html
#mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealth #depression #PTSD #stress #depression #anxiety #domesticviolence
Considering the loss of classroom teaching time due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, CBSE reduced the syllabus of classes 9 to 12 with the help of suggestions from NCERT.
This means that Class 11 students of political science will not study about federalism in the Constitution during the academic year of 2020-21. Political theory sections on citizenship, secularism and nationalism have also been removed, according to the details on deleted sections, available on the CBSE website.
In Class 12, the topic of India's relations with its neighbours has been deleted, along with sections on social movements, regional aspirations, the changing nature of India's economic development, and the Planning Commission. Business Studies students will not study the concept of demonetization, Goods and Services Tax, or the impact of government policy changes on business with special reference to liberalization, privatization and globalization in India. In History classes, students will not study chapters on understanding the partition, or on peasants, zamindars and the State.
Some of the excluded topics in Maths are Properties of Determinants, Consistency, Inconsistency, and Number of Solutions of System of Linear Equations by Examples and Binomial Probability Distribution.
The revised Physics syllabus for Class 11 omitted portions from Newton’s Laws of Motion, Kepler’s law of planetary motion and the Doppler effect in waves, while chapters on anatomy and morphology of flowering plants were dropped from the Biology syllabus.
Science teachers have questioned the rationale behind these choices, and say this will not only affect a student’s understanding of key concepts but also impact them when they attempt entrance exams such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for engineering colleges and National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for medical colleges.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was "shocked" by the decision to drop subjects like democratic rights, federalism and secularism from the Economics and Political Science syllabuses of Classes 9 to 12.
"Shocked to know that the central government has dropped topics like citizenship, federalism, secularism and partition in the name of reducing CBSE course during the COVID-19 crisis," Mamta Banerjee tweeted.
A section of academicians claimed the move appeared to give importance to "political considerations" than academics.
Elucidating on how its sole motive on the revised CBSE Syllabus was to relax the stress on students by reducing the syllabus by 30%, the ministry wrote that the decision has been falsely politicized.
Facing criticism over its decision to revise the syllabi for classes 9 to 12, which saw many important chapters getting axed from the curriculum, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Wednesday said the portions have not been “deleted”.
It said all these chapters have been covered in the “alternative academic calendar” launched by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) earlier this year.
The clarification comes in the backdrop of CBSE facing criticism for its decision to drop key chapters like Democratic Rights, Federalism, Citizenship and Secularism from school courses
The education board also clarified that no question shall be asked from the reduced syllabus in the Board Exams for 2020-2021only
Pandemic and Digital Divide: Sparking Mental Trauma among young minds.
The lack of technological resources in the hands of the poor has challenged remote-learning which can create a big - learning gap between the rich & poor. We can't imagine the physiological trauma of a child who craves to study but can't.
Online Classes through the gifts of technology has bridged the gap between the educators and the students but has also mirrored “ Digital-Divide” in India.
The Digital Divide: The non-accessibility of gadgets has created a historic wave of mental-health problems like suicide, depressions etc.
According to the 2017-’18 National Sample Survey report on education, only 24% of Indian households have an internet facility. While 66% of India’s population lives in villages, only a little over 15% of rural households have access to internet services.
Giving a global perspective, UNESCO noted, “Half of the total number of learners — some 826 million (82.6 crores) students — kept out of the classroom by the Covid-19 pandemic, do not have access to a household computer and 43 percent (706 million or 70.6 crores) have no internet at home, at a time when digitally-based distance learning is used to ensure educational continuity in the vast majority of countries.”
The psychological trauma of the class 10 student who committed suicide as she was distraught by not being able to access classes online is unimaginable. Think about the students who used to go to school for the “Mid-Day Meal”.
Web-based learning in the Indian market has increased gigantic footing as of late. Beside simply scholastic content, they likewise empower students to pick up abilities and even get ready for serious assessments. Yet, there are different sides to each story. E-learning too has a considerable amount of advantages and disadvantages. Let’s check some points
Almost sixteen lakh kids from poor households studying in government and municipal schools within the Delhi are watching disruptions of their studies without access to mobiles, net and laptops or desktops, at the same time privileged students from private faculties are taking online classes amid the coronavirus lockdown.
From coping with basics like internet connectivity and India’s notoriously undependable power supply to more structural issues such as curriculum and teaching methods, educators have come under tremendous stress.
A teacher from an SDMC faculty in Sarvapriya Vihar said the first actual problem in implementing the plan is: “We do not even have the database for the students or the parents’ contact numbers as a way to reach out to them.”
The teacher said there isn’t even a computer in the school for teachers to feed contact details into.
A mathematics teacher from a North Delhi municipal faculty agreed that executing the plan is a huge hassle. “At the same time as my faculty hasn’t received any orders, several others I recognize had been instructed to start WhatsApp class. But subjects like maths can't study on those applications, even for those who use WhatsApp. How will one take a look at calculations?”
Online education is not equal or the same or easy for everyone. When others are discussing the technical disadvantages of E-learning like lack of interaction, less cost-effective etc, while others don’t have a phone at least, this is the hidden truth of the society. It is the condition of the Nation’s capital.
According to a study conducted by scholarship ed-tech platform Buddy4Study, of the 25 crore students affected by the lockdown, 80 percent fall in the Economically Weaker Section category. Let’s read some stories:
Kartik and his sister Mansi are students of class5 and class 1, respectively, in distinct MCD schools in Kapashera. Their mother and father sell vegetables for a living. Kartik, who wants to be a police officer, said that they've no longer received any assignments from school on their father’s phone for the reason that lockdown started out. “We haven’t been given any work; on the grounds that schools closed, it’s been a holiday for us.”
Shyam Singh, a labourer in Samaypur Badli, had no clue what WhatsApp meant while he received a call from his son Sohan’s class teacher at an NDMC school. “Madam called five days ago, and I didn’t have WhatsApp installed on my phone. Now my son has explained it to me and I’ve downloaded the app, but no work has been assigned through the school yet,” he said.
Tarun, son of a domestic employee in GK-II, cannot now use his father’s second-hand phone as it has broken. The father’s employer offered to shop for him a simple phone but realized delivery of non-essentials online wasn’t possible amid the lockdown. The owner explained: “I felt depressed, that’s why I allow Tarun to take a class with my smart hone every morning. I feel that’s was the sole thing I could do.”
A visually-impaired pupil at a Delhi government school, who didn’t want to be diagnosed, stated: “Assignments on WhatsApp were now not possible for me. I don’t have parents and my grandparents too antique to use WhatsApp.
The interaction with school students, their parents, and teachers from government schools revealed how everybody was suffering to bridge the virtual gap — many families do not have smartphones, not to mention computers or laptops. Some said they don’t understand how to use WhatsApp, even as some parents are engaged in vital services and need to take their only smartphones with them on work.
The humanitarian crisis has brought all the officials under the microscope. How to ensure a sound transaction of online classes to students, especially poor across the country?
The Mirror of lockdown has reflected how the rooted structural imbalances are between rural & urban, rich & poor even in the digital world.
#COVID19Pandemic #Unlock2 #India #onlineeduaction #digitaldivide
Did you know there are board games that will educate you about Coronavirus and it’s protocols. Surprising, right ? Well here’s how they work:
“You make me sick” Game
COVID-19 is highlighted in a newly updated board game, “You Make Me Sick,” to teach students about the immune system, infectious diseases, and good health practices. Designed by Duquesne University’s Partnership in Education, the game is available as a free download and optimized to print from the organization’s website. The game is designed for two to four players and recommended for children age 11-15 years old. The game provides a learning opportunity for the whole family and can be used by parents who are home schooling their children during the coronavirus pandemic.
Covid 19 board Game by Veer
A 10-year-old in a Delhi school developed a board game around COVID-19 and it’s now available online. A Game that reflected the time of quarantine, hand sanitiser use, social distancing, maks wearing, and more. The board has 52 spaces and starts and ends with ‘Home’, the idea being that a person who leaves home, must follow all regulations, before coming back. On the way, if they sneeze, they must wash hands, literally, and miss a few turns. They may even land on a space that asks the player to perform a yoga pose, to boost immunity. “He had five or six rules, and we helped him develop them,” says the father. Besides the board, dice, and coins, the rule book also has a list of symptoms, precautions, and COVID-19 warriors like doctors, police, vegetable vendors and other essential supplies.
The Supreme Court's bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilker today gave its final decision regarding the leftover CBSE AISSCE Class 12th exams which were to be held in the month of July. The exams stand canceled now.
While, the class 10th exams were already canceled, the CBSE board has shared its decision to go ahead and declare the results by July 15th on basis on internals examinations due to the conditions caused by the pandemic COVID-19.
However, according to a CBSE OFFICIAL, the students will have an option to appear in examination if they wish to (and if the conditions would allow which is not probable)
but if they don't wish to appear then their performance of last internal examinations will be considered to grant them marks.
The board has clarified that option of appearing in the board exam will only be available to XIIth students and not for class Xth students.
This decision has bought to relief lakhs of students who were not in a mental state to give the remaining exams and also those who were in the containment zones.
#supremecourt #cbse #icse #delhiuniversity #du #exams #covid19
In light of the COVID 19 ongoing pandemic, the Apex Court of India has directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to reconsider its decision of taking the leftover AISSCE exams for class XIIth and scrapping it off instead.
On a petition filed by lawyer Rishi Malhotra, The Supreme Court’s bench consisting of Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Sanjeev Khanna on Wednesday advised the CBSE board to mark the students on the basis of their internal evaluation, for the remaining papers.
It is to be noted that while the board has scrapped off the remaining exams for class Xth students, it has rescheduled the remaining papers for AISSCE or class XIIth exams in July.
The court saw many points in favor of cancelling the remaining exams such as the cancellation of the intermediate exams in other 25 countries affected by the pandemic. The lawyers also appealed to the court that premier institution’s like Delhi University and many IIT’s have also canceled their exams. They also kept before the court petitions signed by stakeholders across the country and cited their problems which included points such as restrictions and problems in hotspot and containment zones.
The next hearing date has been given on 23rd June. The CBSE Board has been given almost a week’s time to come to a final binding decision regarding the remaining exams. It is expected that the board will either cancel the exams or come up with a better idea because the health and well-being of students is above all and in the present scenario, it seems impossible to conduct the exams.
Featured Image Credits : istockphoto.com
#supremecourt #cbse #icse #delhiuniversity #du #exams #covid19
As it is rightly said,
"Our will to live is often much greater than the difficulties of life."
and
"The absence of the will to live is, alas, not sufficient to make one want to die."
Everyone out there should be grateful for this human life and should have the zeal and desire to LIVE.
If you know anyone who needs emotional and mental support, or is going through tough times, you can help them by calling on any of these 24*7 free helpline numbers.
These suicide prevention organizations work for the great cause of minimizing suicide rates amongst all age groups and specially the youngsters who are more prone to it.
They provide professional, free and dedicated emotional support to anyone who needs it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There's strict anonymity and the call is totally confidential, they lend all ears to the one on the other side of the call and the concerned only needs to REACH OUT.
Here's a list of those organizations:
▪︎AASRA -
+91 98204 66726
▪︎PARIVARTHAN -
+91 76766 02602
▪︎SNEHA -
044 24640050
▪︎TISS, iCALL -
+91 22 255211
+91 91529 87821
▪︎VANDREVALA FOUNDATION -
+91 730 459 9836
1800 2662 345
▪︎NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE -
1800 273 8255
▪︎DISHA
1056
▪︎HOPE HELPLINE FOR STUDENTS
+91 0744 2414141
▪︎ONE LIFE
+91 7893078930
▪︎STATE GOVT's. ( Karnataka, TamilNadu, Odisha)
104
Remember, you just have to reach out,
They'll Be There For You.
Quote Credits - Anonymous
Template Credits - Canva
.jpeg)
HOME SCHOOLING: Rejection of the cookie-cutter approach to education
“The philosophy of Home Schooling is, you take real life and then you turn that into schooling.”
“Tota Kahani” by Rabindranath Tagore narrates the story of a free-spirited parrot who would hop, skip, fly and sing all day. A king ordered that the bird be 'civilized', and so it was put in a golden cage. In the flood of restrictions and instructions, it soon forgot to sing, and then, couldn't even squawk. When it tried to fly, its wings were clipped. Soon the parrot died, with not a sound except for the rustle of books in its stomach.
The same story is painted on the walls of Shikshantar in Udaipur, which calls itself a people's institute for rethinking education and development. In the mural, trapped in its gilded cage, this parrot, too, forgets how to sing. But unlike in Tagore's story, the narrative in Shikshantar has been tweaked to accommodate hope. Here, the parrot breaks free instead, snapping, as it were, the shackles of 'formal schooling'.
Homeschooling is home education. In many ways, homeschooling is a more organic form of education that focuses on getting out of traditional classrooms that focus on a one-to-many, generalist education. A homeschool-styled learning environment is more personalized to the student, with individual attention. If your son is struggling in reading or writing, parents can take the time necessary to make sure he masters the concepts. In fact, unlike a traditional classroom where curriculum and resources are predetermined, a homeschool program can change curriculum and tactics to ensure a successful outcome. Likewise, if your daughter is excelling in math or science, there is no need to proceed at a slow pace or continue using a curriculum that may not be challenging enough.
In short, homeschooling is about one-to-one learning.
Homeschooling has gained popularity in the new millennium with a small minority of households abandoning the rote learning and exam-obsessed mainstream school system to provide their children individualized primary-secondary education at home to develop their creative, critical thinking and problem solving cognitive capabilities.
Broadly speaking, home educators divide into three major groups: those who are motivated by religious and moral reasons; those who have philosophical or pedagogical reasons; and those who turn to home education because of problems their children experience in school, both academic and social.
Home Schooling in India lays down its root from the ancient gurukul schooling system which was based on parent/teacher-led education in home environments. Rabindranath Tagore's Visva-Bharati University, Sri Aurobindo's Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education and Mahatma Gandhi's ideal of "basic education had the element of home-schooling.
Homeschooling in India does not require any registration, recognition or regulation by any agency or authority. Most parents who choose to do so either follow the CBSE curriculum or opt for the state board syllabus. Home schooled children can appear for the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams as private candidates, or write the Class 10/12 examinations of the National Institute of Open Learning (NIOS), which gives students the option to get a degree or certificate and is conducted at centres across the country. Sahal Kaushik, the youngest pupil to not only crack IIT but also topple in Delhi with AIR 33 at the age of 14 is the gift of Home-schooling.
In the United States — inevitably the pioneer of homeschooling — an estimated 2.3 million children are being educated at home with this number growing by 7-12 percent annually. According to Brian D. Ray, president of the Salem (Oregon)-based National Home Education Research Institute, homeschooling “may be the fastest growing form of education in the United States”.
Expansion of the notion of learning
The truth is, children are born learning; it’s a survival skill that comes naturally to them. Genuine learning can go beyond core educational topics. The proponents of Home Schooling argue that school is a monoculture which limits the learning process of children and formal schooling forces to study only specified subjects, play prescribed sports, and mingle with children in their own age groups in strictly controlled environments. Such regimentation is contrary to the natural growth cycle of children. Home Schooling children learn socialization skills by interacting with people of all age groups and elements of nature such as animals and plant life.
Following interests
So, if your kid loves video games, play with them. Read a graphic novel on Minecraft. If they’re interested in knights and superheroes, read books on the subject. Draw them on construction paper, or in sidewalk chalk outside. Talk about what it means to be a hero.
Flexibility.
If your child is struggling with a subject or a specific concept, you do not need to skip it and move on. Instead, you can work with your child until she/ he has mastered the material. Homeschooling allows you to take all the time you need to ensure learning is taking place. Likewise, if your child is ready to move on, you do not need to waste time on redundant or repetitive lessons. Homeschooling children can move through educational materials at a faster pace than their peers.
Practical Learning
Kids who are homeschooled also may get out in their communities more than other kids. They might get to experience hands-on education at museums, libraries, businesses, marinas, and other community resources. They also might volunteer or participate in "service learning" where they take on local projects.
The pathway to unlocking your child’s potential.
Teach for India fellow Harshad Tathed, who worked on a documentary film titled Project Nomad about alternative education including homeschooling in India, believes this alternative schooling system is becoming increasingly popular because of its mix of basic elementary education and propensity to develop the special intelligence of children. “Children learn best when they are encouraged to question, investigate and research. This transforms them into creative and innovative problem solvers. According to a study conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA, in 2017, at age three, 98 percent of children are creative, but by the time they reach the age of 15, only 2 percent remain creative. This shocking revelation prompted me to work on the documentary film to educate parents about the benefits of homeschooling and other alternative education options,” says Tathed, chief executive of Swayam Bodh Gurukul, a learning centre in Pune which tutors children who fail in school or “don’t like going to school at all”.
Special Care
Parents of children who have learning disabilities are another set who opt for homeschooling because they feel schools are unable to cater to the special needs of their kids.
Lack of Socialization
The standard notions that home-based education leads to socially ill-adjusted children and limited career opportunities for them. Effects on social life can be another possible disadvantage for homeschooled kids. All kids need to have friends and be around other children. Some homeschoolers may feel cut off from kids their age or feel like they spend too much time with their families.
Lack of Infrastructures
A kid who's homeschooled doesn't have the convenience of school facilities, such as a gymnasium, science lab, or art studio. The child may be taught at the kitchen table or at a "school" area in the home. He or she might do science experiments in the kitchen or go outside to work on an art project. Some parents who homeschool their kids form groups so their kids can go together to take art classes and take part in other group learning activities, like field trips.
With home education gaining momentum and respectability worldwide, suspicion about the academic proficiency of homeschooled children is waning.
Some of the disadvantages of homeschooling include, homeschooled children tend to be pampered mother’s darlings who can’t take the heat of competition in adult life. There’s also a good chance of their transforming into self-indulgent and undisciplined spoiled brats grown fat on extravagant meals.
Home Schooling has washed up on Indian shores, it’s a tiny minority movement because it requires extraordinary investment in terms of time, dedication, patience and relearning capabilities on the part of one or increasingly, both parents — a difficult proposition for two-income households.
At least one parent has to sacrifice her career ambitions or place them on hold. Therefore, despite widespread dissatisfaction with factory-style exam-oriented primary-secondary education, the overwhelming majority of the country’s 60 million middle-class households can’t afford to homeschool their children.
How is homeschool socialization different?
For one thing, homeschoolers do not have the same exposure to peer pressure and bullying, both of which are tied to poorer academic performance and lower self-esteem.
Homeschooling also means less daily interaction with large numbers of kids in a child’s age group. And homeschoolers can end up spending less time each day participating in organized sports and activities with their peers.
However, this does not mean that homeschoolers have no access to their peers, or have no ability to play sports or socially interact with others outside their family. In fact, on average, homeschoolers participate more in their community, are less sedentary, and socialize with a wider mix of adults (especially professionals) than their public school counterparts. As part of its flexible nature and focus on one-on-one / personalized learning, homeschooling involves more field trips, real-life experiences, and hands-on learning. When it comes to sports, homeschoolers often participate in recreational leagues or homeschool sports classes offered in their community. Some students are homeschooled because their athletic or artistic talents have them engaged in sports and activities at a higher level.
In a recent turn of events, the students who’ve been pursuing their education from the grand state with rich history of Maharashtra, have a profound sigh of relief by the decision of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to promote students pursuing their final year to cancel all their examinations and promote them on the basis of aggregate marks scored by the student in their previous semester while the students who feel that they can perform better are welcomed to take the examinations in the months of October-November, 2020. The decision was taken in the light of recent events where Mr. Thackrey announced if, under any circumstances the lockdown is extended till June 30, 2020, the state will not have any option but to promote the final year students.
While there surely must’ve been a roar of joy amongst the student, The Governor expressed his on the decision taken by the Chief Minister of Mumbai. Governor B.S. Koshyari claimed that decision will some serious legal repercussions. According to source, a letter had been sent by the Governor to the CM on May 22, 2020, hoping to resolve the issue of conducting examinations for the final year students and providing the students some clarity. According to the Governor, he has also mentioned that by not conducting the examinations, it would breach the UGC guidelines. “Decision on holding final year exams will be taken as per Universities Act! It has been conveyed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that decision regarding holding of the examinations of final year students ‘shall be taken in consonance with the provisions of the Act’.” Is what his twitter read on June 2, 2020.
Following his tweet, it a roar of indignation arose, complaining that the governor had np respect or care for the lives of the students. According to sources, a Committee of Vice Chancellors was constituted by the Minister for Higher and Technical Education. The Committee had examined the current situation and based on it recorded the best solutions and options for a way to conduct the examination and sent a report to the secretary, higher and technical education department, but it wasn’t presented to him.
While it may come as a relief to students, but come to think about it practically, the application would not be easy since in fields of law, architecture, medicine etc students would be required to register themselves with their respective Profession bodies after the completion of their course to get a valid license to practice in their respective field. Gaining respective knowledge and testing it on a practical is an extremely important requirement which is achieved by testing the students. However, the current situation doesn’t allow the ideal solution for holding examinations for students across the world. Whilst holding examinations physically is not ideal, the internet connections in a developing country like India is rather weak which would complicate things at a huge scale for those who don’t have the luxury to access 3G-4G networks. I believe the decision taken by the CM wasn’t taken in haste and is highly in favour of the students.
#noexams #UNIVERSITYexams #finalyearexam #noexams #examscancelled
#universityofDelhi #Pandemic #Covid19 #Lockdown4 .0
“Sexuality leads to Self-Knowledge”
I broke my silence today and whined as loud as I could, “Yes! I’m a Gay. I cherish flaunting with my worn long hair and I fancy dating a lovely man because I’m proud of my individuality.”
I started discovering my intense temptation towards same-sex when I was 14 but I was scared to endorse myself. The impressions of abnormality and medication used to vex me and I was eaten like a horse with, “Self-hatred.”
“Hey Mr. Long Hair, the thresholds of your happiness must be traversing all horizons. Section 377 has been decriminalized. So, confess your love.”, said the teacher, embarrassing me in front of my classmates. So, I broke my silence as my sexuality is my identity. It is part of my behaviour with biological and genetic factors and not an oddity that needs to be medicated. I own my sexual craving which is the most empowering thing to do as it’s the art of living your individuality.
The stigma against LGBTQ students like me ranges from the boy/girl dichotomy while dividing students into groups to usage of anti-LGBT language. Any individual who is homosexual faces discrimination, homophobic and transphobic bullying, social exclusion which leads to emotional health struggles like depression, and even suicide.
Isn’t it hypocritical that a gay/ lesbian has to undergo the journey of Self-hatred in order to step forward to the journey of Self-Love and Acceptance? The ‘Truth’ of being a 'Gay' was a criminal offence to me. What I wish is a safe and comfortable environment to accept and love myself, where my parents, teachers, friends would see me through the lens of equality and respect and support me, the school and home environment would be crafted to empower LGBTQ people and no one has to go through the journey of Self-Hatred to be “Real”. The schools should include a special curriculum on sex culture and sexual orientation so that students like me can learn to understand their identity.
I trusted my intuition as it never lies. Respect your individuality because ‘You Matter.’ So, use this ' Social- Distancing' to express your love as "Love has no boundaries, no gender, no colour. It's eternal."
( A piece of narration by my homosexual friend in my words)
When the world is battling against Coronavirus, DU students are battling against online exams. The university whose site barely works, will take online examination of third year students.
Delhi University, rolled out a press release stating that examination will be conducted for final year students in the month of July. The first reaction of final year students’ were “what about my last semester results?” And I have seen many memes regarding DU conducting online exams. Honestly online exams might turn into a big failure. Many students don’t have their study materials and I know you all will agree when I say online classes can’t cover up for offline classes. Many students feel that the study material shared by teachers hasn’t helped to understand the syllabus fully. I remember I had trouble during my admissions because Delhi University’s site wasn’t working, listening about online exams by DU is a big shock for me. Many students don’t even have access to laptop and a broadband connection at their home.
Instead of taking online exams Du should ask for assignments. The assignment should be innovative, innovative in such a way that students have to work hard on their assignments and it will be better for all the students. Many Students are also demanding a “common academic calendar for all universities.” Which in my opinion is better. Lockdown is affecting our career especially last year students’. Their placements and internships have been stopped. I think a new academic calendar should be made for all universities.
#education #educationin2020 #educationinlockdown #lockdown4 .0 #covid19 #pandemic
#duagainstonlineexams #onlineexams #du #DUSU
https://www.duupdates.in/delhi-university-final-semester-online-examination-confirmed-this-letter-cleared-all-the-doubts-regarding-the-examinations/amp/
.jpeg)
#dusu #election #dusuelection #students #delhi #delhiuniversity #avbp #nsui #cyss #aisa
#DU #SOL #CBCS #Schoolofopenlearning
