Last week I really felt hopeless. One thing I can not handle very well is the violence that the teachers sometimes use to punish the students.  I, coming from a certain background, just can not imagine any case when it would be (provoked) acceptable for a teacher to hit the student. I hate any form of violence or aggression and I simply can't bear to see these kids beaten. I always give voice to my disagreement when I see any case of violence but last week I felt so helpless.

I had class with Snake class before lunch. I entered the classroom, said hi to everybody but even before I could start teaching one of the students drew my attention to another's wounded head. The boy seemed to be completely allright but I took a closer look and there was an actually nasty bleeding wound on the top of his head. We went to the office and tended the wound. When I asked what happened they said the previous teacher hit him with a stick. I got very upset and told the kids that it is not okay at all if a teacher hits them but I got the feeling that my words fell on deaf ears since I thought their parents also often hit them if they misbehave. I could see that they did not really understand why it is not okay for an adult to beat them. I understand that this whole thing roots deep in the culture and I honestly can not blame the teachers since probably their parents and teachers also beat them when they were young. When I asked the mentioned teacher she said that there was a wound already on the boy's head and she just "accidentally touched it with a stick". Now that was what really pissed me off. I tried to explain it to the teachers why it is completely unacceptable to use any forms of physical aggression in the classroom (and generally anywhere) but I had the same feeling again that they did not understand what I was talking about. They were just laughed at me and said they don't hit the children too hard... After this (no surprise) I was in a very bad mood all day. I know they are not bad people and they really care about the school but make the wrong decision sometimes when they have no other tool to regulate the students.

In the evening I told Siddarth about my concerns and he said that he'll talk with the teachers about this issue but he also expressed that he doesn't see much chance to change how adults treat children here. Yes, certainly this can't be changed over night but I think with regular discussions and maybe trainings the teachers can be taught other non-violent techniques to regulate the students. I also feel my responsibility in noticing this so late that now I don't have much time to make any changes but I'll try my best.