Opinion | Be Ideal While Choosing Your Idols’ 

Amid the celebratory atmosphere across Jammu and Kashmir for celebrating the successes of their loved ones in the recently declared results of 12th standard students by Jammu and Kashmir state board of school education, the entire social media was seen flooded by congratulatory posts, motivational stories and inspirational interviews conducted by different social media influencers or journalists. Following such a plethora of pleasure and joy all around, we came across some heart wrenching news as well where a mother died of heartache just because her child who she has pinned her expectations and hopes to, has failed in the said exam, or some students take their lives by suicide for just fearing to face the society after failing in the Twelfth-class examination. Such news is not being ignored by the budding students or responsible parents. These kinds of situations have been adding to the burden on the mind to tackle situations with utmost mindfulness. Every year we lose children for their weak academic performances, failure or social stigmatization. But how long are we going to continue to take it on our shoulders to let them die, strangulate or hand themselves in? When can we collectively speak up and counsel our children? When parents are going to establish cordial bonds with their children and tell them that “This is not the end”.

Every child cannot be a doctor, engineer, IAS, IPS, KPS or KAS. And glorifying these fields or careers must not demean the fields like teaching which is a noble and prophetic profession. Without a teacher in the society there is no possibility of any doctor and the other glorified fields that our society is hero worshipping nowadays. Our parents are ready to go to any extent, sell any asset in order to get these social-made prominent job-oriented degrees to their children. Students who are not able to perform well in the classrooms are getting an education loan to be an MBBS and after that they are not able to qualify the MCI in India. This craze and fanatic trend of our society has developed the unethical and negligent service and work culture in our society which under shades the growth and performance of the able, disciplined and hard-working professionals.
Hence, our society is in dire need of changing this fanatic trend which has directly and indirectly given birth to plethora of social miseries, evils and concerns. Children need to be counselled and guided according to their capabilities, abilities and interests. So that they have a productive growth rather than making them money-minting machines.  This is a new social menace which is growing superfast and being glorified by the TRP hungry journalists by hero worshipping them in order to add to the miseries, agonies, burdens, and hence stress to the students and their parents who fail to compete with this trend. This is the high time for our religious icons, social media influencers, academicians, teachers and, above all the parents who it highly depends on to speak to the children and counsel them. We as a society must come up with an appreciative approach towards art, craft, Self Help groups, agri-preneurship, horti-preneurship, entrepreneurship, farming etc. to lighten the burdens upon our young generations to seek progress.
– The writer is an author of “The Melancholic tales of a half orphan” and a philanthropist. She can be reached at refatwani@outlook.com