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Democratic Indian (n/a)     16 December 2010

Boy Punches Principal

A 16-year-old schoolboy slapped twice by his principal for changing seats in the middle of a show retaliated with kicks and punches in front of the entire school for over 10 minutes until a teacher separated the two.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday afternoon at the St Aloysius Orphanage and Day School, is the first known instance in the city of an alleged victim of corporal punishment hitting back in such a manner.

More than 900 children and their teachers stood stunned in the school auditorium as the Class IX student — Metro is withholding the boy’s name pending an inquiry — repeatedly punched and kicked 45-year-old Father George Anthony before tearing his shirt.

The only ones apparently oblivious to the ugly drama were the tiny tots on the stage, who continued their performance even as the boy rained blows on the principal.

“We were too shocked to react. Minutes earlier, everyone was enjoying the musical performance by our kindergarten kids and suddenly we were seeing a high school student hitting the principal. I had never seen anything like this in my 15-year career,” recounted a teacher.

The trigger for the boy’s assault was the humiliation of being slapped and dragged by his collar in front of his schoolmates for allegedly trying to “disrupt the concert” by getting off his seat in the middle of the performance.

“He was seated in a row from where he didn’t get a clear view of the stage. So he got up to shift to another seat, only to be spotted by the principal, who was keeping an eye on us. Then all hell broke loose,” said a classmate who was a couple of rows behind.

“Don’t move, sit down where you are,” Father George had warned the moment he saw the boy get up.

When the 16-year-old tried to argue that he wasn’t being able to enjoy the performance from where he was seated, the principal “lost his cool”, a witness said.

“Father George walked up to my classmate and slapped him hard twice. He then grabbed him by his shirt collar to haul him out of the hall, causing him to lose balance and hit his head against a wall,” he added.

With the boy’s response taking everyone in the audience by surprise, it wasn’t until more than 10 minutes later that one of the teachers — a nun — intervened. “As our teacher separated them, we didn’t know where to look. The incident was as embarrassing as it was shocking,” recalled a Class X boy.

The principal immediately left the hall and went into his office while the boy, who is the only child of his parents, was taken to the staff room. His parents were later summoned and asked not to send him to school until further orders.

The principal had hit me hard for no fault of mine. I struck back in self-defence,” the Class IX student told Metro on Wednesday.

His mother claimed the school authorities refused to meet her when she visited the institution on Wednesday.

Father George was unavailable for comment.

Father Moloy D’Costa, an official of the Calcutta Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and the inspector of schools under the Roman Catholic Churches in Calcutta, said “a preliminary investigation” had revealed that the boy had been disrupting rehearsals for the show for a few days.

He promised an impartial inquiry into the incident. “The annual function will continue till Thursday. The boy has been asked not to attend school to ensure that there is no disruption over what happened on Tuesday,” said Father D’Costa.

Psychologists said the incident highlighted behavioural problems on either side of the student-teacher divide. “A student is expected to obey the principal’s orders, irrespective of whether he or she likes it or not. In this case, the principal had probably asked him not to leave his seat in the middle of the show to maintain discipline. But today’s children have a tendency to oppose anything that doesn’t suit them,” said psychologist Mahua Ghosh.

She also blamed the principal for failing to show restraint and resorting to corporal punishment, which is banned.

Reference: https://www.telegraphindia.com/1101216/jsp/calcutta/story_13307773.jsp



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 5 Replies

Bhartiya No. 1 (Nationalist)     16 December 2010

everywhere in this country has the same situation. Lawlessness has increased to it's zenith.

adv. rajeev ( rajoo ) (practicing advocate)     16 December 2010

Whom to believe.  But slapping of the principal shows the way how youths are going.

Democratic Indian (n/a)     17 December 2010

The Principal should have kept his hands to himself. Slapping by the principal shows the way how violently the teachers try to terrorize the kids. This kid has rightly asserted his rights and paid back the perpetrator of violence in the same coin. If Corporal punishment is illegal, then what Father George did was against the law. Can we expect kids to be law abiding with an example like this provided by his teachers?

 

I remember when I was in school, many teachers in school used to behave as "terrorists" with canes, wooden rulers in hand, beating and slapping children at will. The teachers should have had their behinds kicked for what they did to the kids. It is no business of any teacher to use abusive or violent means on any child. There have been countless incidents where children were subjected to profound tortures, misbehaviors leading to committing of suicides, going into depressions, suffering other irreparable mental and psychological harm.

 

Most people who have forgotten their schooldays, or have been fortunate enough to be in a school system better than the Indian one, would probably want to crucify me, literally.


1. He was trying to change his seat, so that he could see better. I am sure we would all remember the arbitrary rules that said that taller kids sit at the back, and then are dubbed "dull" because they are back benchers. I also remember children being made to kneel down for a full period because they were trying to move to front (it was later found out that they needed eye glasses).


2. This was only a concert, not a lecture by a VIP. A concert is meant to be enjoyed, and no one can enjoy if sitting bolt upright at attention, "fingers on your lips, no talking, ssshhhhhhh!" All "matured" adults enjoy making comments during movies, concerts, so why do we start whacking a poor kid?


3. The blame game has already started - today's children have a tendency to, blah blah...., the preliminary investigations.....disrupted the rehearsals.... What is the child's side? That his mother was not allowed to meet the school authorities? Why? Why couldn't they have the guts to immediately expel the kid? Is he the son of a big-shot? "The principal should not have hit him because corporal punishment is illegal". So, five or ten years ago, when corporal punishment was the rule rather than the exception, the principal would have been given a "big hand"??? Wah, wah, 45 years old beats up defenceless 16 year old kid???


4. Coming, finally to discipline, look where the highly disciplined Waffen SS ended up. Do we really want our kids to stand at attention all their lives, fingers on their lips, straight lines, white shirts and navy blue pants?


5. We all say that one should hit back (or never tolerate) injustice. Then we all stand by and applaud, while the all-powerful "education" system ruins a life, just for hitting back at injustice. What would have happened if the kid had meekly let the Principal bash him up? No news (unless the kid slung himself from a fan). Only when a man bites a dog, it is news.


6. I wish I had enough guts (or was "indisciplined" enough) like the kid above.

Sarvesh Kumar Sharma Advocate (Advocacy)     17 December 2010

Rajeev sir, how youths are going ? i m sure next time he will not kicked and/or  punched.  he will shoot. 

Democratic Indian (n/a)     17 December 2010

Youths are going very right. Days of ignorance are over. Every section of the society is getting aware of their rights.They are only asserting their rights which are rightfully theirs. Principal had used his hands to violently assault a kid, because he thought himself to be in a powerful position. The kid responded EQUALLY with his hands in self defence. NOTHING WRONG. If principal would have shot the kid, then Sarveshji as told by you, the kid would have been absolutely correct to shoot back in self defense.

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