Mass Copying

While checking the test papers of his students a teacher noticed the co-incidence of correctness and mistakes in many of the papers. The missing answer to the last question in all the papers convinced him about the mass copying that had taken place.

He confronted the students with his findings. One by one he asked each of them to own up. But they were stubborn and united. None of them agreed to having cheated. The teacher picked up a cane with his right hand and cracked it sharply on his own left hand. One by one he rained blows on his own hand with the sharp cane.

The children were flabbergasted. The teacher cursed himself saying, “Why did my students cheat? Why did they lie? I must not have taught them the right values.” The children sprang forward to snatch the cane from their teacher’s hand, but not before it had started bleeding. “Stop!” they begged.

Seeing that the teacher took all the blame of their mistake on himself, they started crying bitterly. “Forgive us, Sir,” they said together.

It was a novel way of getting the erring children to realize their mistake. Needless to say, they never committed the mistake again. If only teachers could feel the pulse of the taught and deal with them innovatively, not necessarily by inflicting hurt upon them self, the students of this generation would have more character.

Baba says, “The end of education is character”, but I wonder if the academicians of today understand the importance of its inculcation in the formative years. Baba also says, “The first task of teachers is the cultivation of virtue in the hearts of the pupils.”

Dear reader, whether you are a mother, a father or a teacher, do try to find time to sow the seed of good character in the tender soil of your child’s heart …. before it’s too late!!

Baba tells us that we have to lead by example. To teach good character we have to set an example to our children or our students. That is the only way of driving the point home.