Biography 105: Punishment

 In my previous school, teachers use to bring a sharp stick (In Bangla "Bet") to beat the students. Mostly for doing irresponsible behaviour or for studying. I was lucky, I never got beaten. The unlucky kids had to put their hands in front of the teacher and the teacher uses to hit on the hand or palm.

This is a very common scenario in Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshi parents think, if they don't beat up the kids, they won't learn anything. I have got beaten up by my mom. And I realize very well, this is not something that a kid is supposed to have.

I never beat my son. In Bangladeshi school when my son didn't want to do his homework, I had to try hours to make him do so. He didn't get a good score in the exams too. Other moms used to advise me that I should beat him up for study. But I kept trying with my full patient and still, I'm doing so. I love him and I want to raise him with love. I don't know whether he will get love from anywhere else or not. I believe love has more power than anything else. Still, he listens to me. I hope he will always.

After admitting to the new school, I found this school system is very good. Here no teacher beat students. If any students don't study or do their homework they had to stand up and keep standing the whole class. According to my previous school, this was nothing.

From grade 8,  even this punishment stopped. The teacher just gets annoyed if we don't do our study well.

If I compare with other good schools, then I must say, they didn't have this privilege. My poor sisters. I told you, I was a very lucky student :)

Biography 77: I got punished

 I had got punished several times in this school in grade 2. In those days (Maybe now a day also), teachers used long, thin sticks to hit kids to punish (In Bangla "Bet"). You can say "Caning or Strokes". Parents know about it and they also think this is necessary for the kids. Now a day also many parents do this at home to manage their kids in Bangladesh.

NO, I never had this punishment. I wasn't that bad. After getting admitted to this school I found study is very hard and boring work. And I have so many interesting things to do on this earth. They always give me so much homework, that if I had tried I wouldn't be able to complete those. But for some other kids, it was easy. Soon teachers found that I don't study at all. But in the class, I was very gentle and a good girl. So, they have given me punishment to hold my ear and stand up on the bench. I should feel ashamed. I did kind of. But there were a bunch of other kids with me on the bench, so it wasn't that bad for me. You can assume that this punishment couldn't make me study. My teachers understood this is not working with me. So, they brought another way to make me study at home.

My older sister was in the same school. She was such a good girl, both in her behaviour and study. All people always asked me to follow her. I never listened. So, one day my teacher called her from her class. I was standing up on the bench. My teacher said to my sister, "Look at your sister, she is always like this, never memorize anything (That is the main study in Bangladesh, you have to memorize all the textbooks. To pass the exam some people memorize the math too), always keep standing up on the bench." I saw my sister's face, she didn't say anything but felt ashamed and became angry. Now I became afraid. If she told this to my mom, my mom may beat me up. Though, that was very common in my everyday life. But I didn't want it more.

At home my sister came to me and asked me to concentrate on study, otherwise, she will tell this to mom. I said I will study. I did some for a couple of days. Now a day think, actually she told my mom and my mom probably suggested my sister for telling me this way. I know my older sister, she never misses an opportunity to put me down.

 At the end of the year, I scored 2nd best. Everybody was surprised, especially my teachers. And they stopped giving me punishment. I felt they started liking me. Not because of punishment, but I stopped study again because I couldn't make enough energy and time for it. Though in the class I was always given full attention to the teacher. I still have that quality. I am a very good listener.

When my son started school, he didn't want to do classwork or homework. Other Bangladeshi moms told me to beat him up. No, I didn't, I tried to make him do things with love and care. Still, I try that way. If failed I use my cards (Like no computer game, no TV, no mobile phone etc), and these works like magic.