Patriotic Day celebrations at GKD
Principal of the GKD Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Prasanna Radhakrishnan (centre), at the Patriotic Day celebrations held at the Geethanjalee Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the city. Correspondent of the School, M.Alagiri Swamy (right), and Principal Bernadette Ravikumar are in the picture.The children of the kindergarten section celebrated Patriotic Day at Geethanjalee Matriculation Higher Secondary School here recently. A flag was unfurled and the children gave short speeches about India’s freedom struggle. They enthralled the audience with patriotic songs.The chief guest, Prasanna Radhakrishnan, Principal of the GKD Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Periyanaickenpalayam, said that elders should not impose their ideas on young minds. They had a lot of confidence in them when they were young, but, it fizzled out by the time they reached high school, she said.This was because of the stress parents and teachers burdened them with, she added. A report had said that suicides among school children had gone up by 300 per cent in the last 30 years.
This was because many of them did not know how to handle stress.The world had become achievement oriented and children had to bear the brunt of their parent’s competitiveness, she observed.What parents and teachers should do is tap their talents and mould their minds with value systems. Parents especially should teach their children the importance of following certain social, cultural, moral and religious values. But, this was possible only if parents themselves were role models to the children. Only then will the children grow up to be useful citizens to the country. A lot of parents complained that their children were glued to the television.
Even though the TV helped in making children confident, it also influenced them way too much, she said. “TV should never become a baby-sitter or a third parent to a child,” she said. The teacher should be a child’s second parent and vice versa, she added.The principal Bernadette Ravikumar said by celebrating patriotic day, children would get to learn about the nation and respect its culture and tradition. M.Alagiri Swamy, Correspondent of the school also attended the programme.
