Students of SM Shetty High School, Powai, who were caught using profanities in class, will play the part of freedom fighters in a play on Republic Day.
The next time you think of using the ‘F’ word in class, beware. You may just have to stand in front of the class and repeat the expletive in Hindi, spend the day looking up the word in a dictionary or play a war hero in a school play.
Instead of berating students in front of their peers, schools are adopting creative means to curb the use of foul language in class.
Students of SM Shetty High School, Powai, who were caught using profanities in class, will play the part of freedom fighters in a play on Republic Day.
“A child who uses bad words is generally looking for attention. So we enroll such children in the drama club. They have to play great heroic characters like Emperor Ashoka, Chanakya or perform mimickry,” said Seema Sablok, principal.
The underlying principle is to put children’s excess energy into something constructive.
Some schools try to clean up students’ language by resorting to punishments that teach them that swearing is not hip or a sign of rebellion.
“Children and young adults mistakenly believe they are perceived to be older if they use words typically associated with adults,” says Dr Seema Hingorani, psychologist.
To break this stereotype, students caught using English swear words are made to repeat those in Hindi in front of the class at Green Lawns High School, Breach Candy.
“Sometimes, students think it is fashionable to use bad words, especially in English. But they feel embarrassed when they have to face their teachers and parents and repeat the same word in Hindi,” said Kiran Bajaj, principal.
Gundecha Academy, Kandivli, has a similar approach. The students are made to search for the meaning of the bad word in the dictionary and made to repeat it in front of the school principal or their parents.
“Children often do not know what such abusive words mean and, even if they do, they face considerable embarrassment to say it out in front of their parents,” said Seema Buch, principal.
Such punishments are popular with parents as well. “A few days ago, my son got into trouble for saying a foul word while fighting with a classmate. I was surprised that teachers made him find the etymology of the word and its manifestation in movies. I think it was really constructive,” said Chaitanya Kamble, parent of a child studying at MVM School, Andheri.
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