What are we doing to our young?!

Confusing them and on top of that complaining that they are entitled, spoilt, inconsistent, etc., I would like to refrain from generalizing it though; there are a few of us, me included, who tried to provide what the kids need and believe is best for them; talking about schooling and academics here. But it seems to be a herculean task as there seem to be too few available viable options, which are unfortunately called 'alternatives', while such should be the mainstay systems.

I have most recently coached three youngsters, no four, three of them still in college and one who started working. What is common to all of them? Severe stress and an inability to handle stress. Crippling stress! Can't blame them, the kind of 'stress' they were put through right through their high school is simply inhuman and insane, to put it mildly! All these four were put through(I can't bring myself to say studied in...) the so-called rank producing factories. I will not explain here how their lives there were, and still is for other students. As a simple example, they were expected to be active, alert and attentive right from 6a.m to 9p.m, day after day for three to four years. They are divided into different sections based on their capacity to 'perform', read... produce results/sales targets/ROI for the institution, moved up or down based on their periodic performance, their weekly test results being publicly displayed on notice boards, teachers pulling them up and reprimanding them for low performance, again publicly(better effect, much needed)!!! and what about all those "under-performers", those moving down the sections? How are they supposed to feel about themselves? Worthless, under-confident, helpless, doomed to disappoint their parents and institution?

How is all this even legal? What is most appalling to me is parents most willingly sending their children into these concentration camps. Of course, it is for their future, they say. What are the options? they ask. How do they survive the competition in future if not in the race now? they fear! Very distressing! What right have we got to kill their childhood pushing them into something, even before they decide if that is what they want to do with their lives and future?

Is this the definition of 'success' ? Getting a 'rank' above the others, at any cost! That is all the system seems to be teaching them. Is this what is called 'competitiveness'? And we start talking about co-operation, collaboration, team-work, Empathy, etc etc., when these guys enter the workforce. But they have never heard these terms before. They have no communication skills, they have not learnt to form rapport and relationships, they haven't learnt how to approach and solve problems( its all about cracking the code), no life lessons, no soft skills, no fun! it's just 'do or die'! Figuratively and unfortunately, sometimes, God forbid, literally!!!

Where did it all start, and when will this turn around? This girl that I met is in her third year of undergrad, and during the conversation, all she could talk about right from the time she was in her ninth grade, was about her marks and ranks going up and down, and how her stress levels went along with them, how she felt disappointed and humiliated, often her own pressure on herself, even getting stomach cramps and falling sick. She has absolutely no other life or memories of that period, that is the age between 13 and 21!! Exact same stories of the others I dealt with! Very very anguishing, indeed. These kids have developed absolutely no coping mechanisms. They crumble at the slightest pushover, as their minds and bodies are reaching the boiling points very early on! And there is no evidence to prove that all the kids joining these hell holes are coming out 'victorious'. It is the small percentage we see on the hoardings and the rest would have done the same even in regular humane systems.

We can only imagine the effects of this system which has already released scores of them into the society. What people dealing with them short and long term, in their professional and personal lives, must be facing?!

Who is responsible for this mess? The whole ecosystem, we may say, which snowballed into a vicious circle? The corporate companies for whom these factories are churning out numbers don't seem to be happy with the turnout, either. Because Emotional Intelligence is proven to be more valuable than IQ, after all, which is not allowed to be developed in this factory-system.

Well, is there a way out?! Definitely. Mankind has been surviving catastrophes😊. We need real, passionate, Empathetic EDUCATIONISTS. Not politicians, real estate developers, business people who bring in money and look for ROIs and nothing more. We are talking about 'Human beings' here, future generations which run the world. We don't need more who either crumble under pressure or cut each other's throats to grow. We need a world of people who look out for each other, are creative and innovative, universal and accepting. We need our generations growing up developing their Emotional quotients alongside their math tables.

Parents, please stop fearing that there is no future unless your child becomes a commodity in some factory! You are doing a lot of harm to them, please realize. Talk to any alumnus of these institutions before taking a call. Change has to come from here. You need to think what is good for your children. Businesses thrive on our fears. Do Not fall for their gimmicks. They will create the need and make us believe that there is no survival outside their ring. Let us not sell our kids to their greed, and spoil the entire world!

Kho na jaaye yeh Taare Zameen par!