The media says that the kid was extremely angry that the teacher wrote some negative remarks in his school-diary. The parents of the kid are keeping mum to the issue; or at least the media doesn't really want to speak with them. (or it could be otherwise!)
But I somehow find a long and important link in the story missing. The time between the remark being written and the time the teacher got stabbed. I have been wondering all this while about what possible incidents could have occurred in the kids life in this short while. This is what I was best able to guess.
The teacher writes the remark. The kid sees the remark and is a little scared. Right, not angry but scared. He wants to conceal the diary or the remark from his parents in some way. He probably hides it. But the mother manages to find it, unfortunately. She shouts at him. Now, he waits for the father to return home. He is only more scared about what this would result it. He thinks of the time before exams when he could have rather studied than play cricket with his friends. He is guilty. He wishes he could cry but remembers that boys don't cry. He holds it all within him.
By dusk, the father gets home. The father is frustrated with his manager who doesn't recognize his abilities. And here at home, he gets only complaints against his son. How he wishes his life was better. He calls his son and shouts at him. He loves his son a lot, but wants to be sure he does well in life. If he is shouting at him, it is only for his good.
The son's head filled with fright and guilt suddenly finds no one on his side. He feels lonely and miserable. He wishes that the remark was never written. That's where it all began. He wishes he was in another class. He wishes that the teacher wasn't there at all!
Somehow, I am very convinced that it isn't just the remark that led the kid to killing the teacher. She was apparently a very loved teacher in that school. Definitely, he did not hate her always. And then, it shocks me that some other parent said that "he planned it all, and waited for an opportune time". He was a kid for god's sake. He was gullible!
Now, what made me write this post in the first place is the way the issue is being handled. I am sure everyone feels sorry for the teacher who got killed mercilessly. Even I do.
But, that surely doesn't make me call the kid a murderer. He was only acting in a very childish way. And, there are several times we all act in a childish way. Naming him a 'murderer' and talking so ill about him in the media is bad. Thinking of his state of mind, which is extremely delicate already, I think cornering him and calling him an anti-social element would only result in making him one.
What he rather needs is specific counseling and orientation. He is not too old to be resistant to learning. I am sure, he needs to be told what is good and what is not. If this can be done, I think we would already be molding him into a responsible citizen.
Also, we need someone to define and analyse each social element involved in this case. Like say,
- How important and irreplaceable is academic performance? What are the consequences of inadequate academic achievement? Is it okay?
- Was there an alternative plan that he could have followed? Was it suicide?
- What's the key to perfect parenting? Will we be able to achieve it now, after millions of generations of people trying to master it?
- Why was it that no one heard or recognized this anger that built up in the kid? Didn't he have friends? Were his parents close to him?
- Are there other kids who are under similar emotional stress, unable to vent it? What are we doing about that?
I have several other questions lingering right here in my head an I listed out the top ones. We ll have to wait and see if we will ever find our answers to these.
This is again my own understanding of the whole issue. It might be limited, biased or mad. But, I think it is definitely more mature than a report that calls the kid a murderer.
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