Student Stories
Imran has been studying in our school for a long time now. Initially when he started coming to school, his behavior was very distinct. He had volatile temperamental issues and was always angry whenever he came to school. He maintained a bad relationship with the other children and us. As much as I tried, sometimes I could not understand what was happening. His mood was always off and uprooted. I could not understand him and used to scold him and punish him. Honestly, I used to be very rude to him.
After a while, I came to know what the problem was. The problem as far as I understood is that his father has two marriages and because of this, there is a lot of tension in the house. His father's second wife has two children who also study in our school, Ibal and Iqra. I felt that this father is often absent from both families and sometimes the families get into a fight. These people are lonely and don’t have any say in this matter. All they feel is the frustration and tension that is left behind. Everyone there has borne a lot of grief. Therefore, I started to understand the problem of this child as to why he behaves this way.
Once I came to this realization, I felt really bad. So much so, I had tears in my eyes that I had not been able to understand him. Gradually I started treating him better. With my new understanding, I was able to have more conversations with him. I was able to change his conservative behavior and now he is very happy. Today he comes to school with a better attitude. He laughs and plays. When I started giving attention to him, his behavior changed towards me too. One day he bought me a chocolate and told me “This is for you.” I did not want to take it but still he convinced me. Another day he came to me with a problem, he needed money to go for the picnic, ₹ 50. I asked the children to pray about it and later he found ₹ 50 lying on the road. He took it as a blessing.
I'm so thankful that now his behavior has seen a gradual shift. He talks and meets us often. I am able to see the drastic change in his life. I spoke to him just last week. He explained how he is working in one place right now and I told him how happy I was. I encouraged him to continue to laugh like this, speak well and not to worry about anything.
Written by Ujjwal S. Teaching with JP since 2014