Happiness & Tolerance - Baljit Kaur

This is the story of a student in grade 8 in a Social Science class who was not happy with the system of the Punjab government. I was teaching them about the importance of the Indian Constitution and its features. 

We were discussing equality and how our Constitution followed these ideas. However, one of my students said, "No, Ma'am! There is no equality in the country because our community is facing inequality as many times it did not get justice." So, he said, "I am not happy with the Constitution". 

I tried to make him understand that the Constitution is fair to everyone, but a few people in the government/system take some actions that are not good for everyone. We have the right to ask questions of the government; why are they not implementing the ideas of the Constitution? 

We should not disrespect our Constitution because it protects our interests and rights without discrimination. The child understood what I said. I explained to him that we just need to find the right reason for the problem and also make our parents alert to examine these types of situations so we can avoid communal disputes. 

Another incident is from grade 7 when students were making fun of a student because of his eating habits and also maintaining distance. In our school, students observing Zero period started discussing their favourite food items. 

One of my students said, "I love eating chicken, especially fried and grilled chicken". He was very happy to share this information, but at the same time, most of the students in my class were displeased as he was talking about non-vegetarian food. Actually, the majority of students in my class are vegetarian because of their religion as well. That student felt uncomfortable after the reaction of other students. I observed that students started irritating him. 

That's when I came forward to explain that every person has their eating habits and choices because of their community, religion and culture. We should respect each other’s eating habits. I talked with students and discussed about few non-vegetarian dishes and with others about vegetarian dishes to make them comfortable. In the end, they all were happy and satisfied. Now when we normally discuss these types of dishes they do not react negatively. 

Baljit Kaur @KNPS Phagwara (India)