Sensitivity, a missing trait in teachers today

There was an article in the papers a few days ago about a seven-year-old boy. He had been made to sit on the floor of the classroom for six months. He was beaten regularly and nicknamed ‘karate’ because of the way he’d cross his arms in front of his face to ward off beatings. He was hyperactive and therefore punished in this fashion. His class teacher was a sadistic woman who ridiculed him constantly and eroded his confidence till he was reduced to a mere shell of his former self.
His name was constantly on the troublemakers’ list that was sent to the principal. The child would plead to his mother that he done nothing wrong and was being beaten but she assumed he was disobedient. The child stopped complaining when the one person who should’ve taken his side disbelieved him. He withdrew into himself and spoke less each day till he just stopped talking. He went into depression according to the doctor whom the parents
finally consulted.

The parents then went to the school and were told by the child’s classmates that the floor was his regular seat. They told of the beatings and the constant mocking. The parents confronted the principal only to be told that their child was difficult and they didn’t want him in the school. The school authorities refused to talk to the papers when questioned. This was an ICSE school in Bangalore and not some impoverished government school in a remote village. The boy is now undergoing treatment in NIMHANS.
I was appalled but not overly surprised on reading this. I see enough evidence of quite a few schools’ callous treatment of children. If the children are unable to tell their parents exactly what is happening, then they are openly ill-treated. My friend’s son goes to the same school as my children. He has special needs. He is sent home at 10 in the morning thrice a week because his sensory issues make some loud noises painful for him and the special educators won’t handle it. He is frequently left lying alone on the mess tables downstairs with no teacher or helper in sight. He was beaten once by the PE teacher who on being confronted said “I wasn’t aware he had issues”. So, the sports teacher hits all the other kids too and the principal says it is no big deal. And yet they charge my friend extra for this ‘inclusive’ education.

The days are long gone when we revered teachers and believed that they were infallible. Now I wonder why some people become teachers at all and defame the few good people out there who are
genuinely dedicated.

The woman who punished that little boy and the principal who supported her deserve to be fired. How can we promise our children we’ll take care of them when we entrust their impressionable minds to such heartless creatures?