Bullying / Ragging in colleges

Intense ragging resulting in deaths and high level of trauma in the case of some students were widely reported in the press and there was total condemnation of ragging by society. What was sadder is that the public conscience is outraged only now that the media has bombarded us relentlessly with this news. Did events like this not occur earlier? Were our schools and colleges safe havens prior to these incidents.

Ragging is more of an initiation rite practiced in colleges. In earlier times everybody could differentiate between ragging ( mild form of humiliation of new students ) and bullying ( physical/mental torture of the new students ), though many may not have been able to precisely define the difference. But now ragging is becoming synonymous with bullying.

Most colleges allow ragging in the name of tradition. Managements of most colleges are aware and so also parents of wards sending boys/girls to these institutions that slowly ragging has got converted to bullying and unless something is done the situation may worsen as times goes by. Over a period of time sadistic practices are shrugged off by teachers and parents, largely as an aberration and not a disease to be dealt with.

It is wrong to assume that most of the bullies come from unhappy homes. In fact many come from perfectly normal and happy home/family backgrounds. So how has the problem gone out of gear. One, over a period of time society and particularly youngsters in the society, started admiring macho behaviour, to some extent on account of depiction of such macho characters as heroes in Indian films. Secondly, we are quite simply a nation prone to bullying. Our caste system is perhaps the most sophisticated attempt at legitimizing bullying. Children learn to bully servants from a very early age and parents not only condone this behaviour but tacitly give their approval. If we happen to occupy position of authority or influence or wealth, we encourage our children to flout rules, and flaunting of our authority when they are caught in the act.

So the point is that can many parents claim honestly that they are the right role models for their children when it comes to behaviour towards people much below them, be it in the shape of caste or position of authority. Second point is that unless there is a complaint, most of the parents just close their eyes to the ragging/bullying indulged in by their wards in the Colleges. Teachers are not capable of dealing with such hooliganism. And if the police is to do the job, then they would not touch students who come from families of influence of position. This is applicable to teachers also. Hence unless parents change their behaviour in the homes, many a child would grow up with the perception that he could torment somebody who is weak.