The seed of mis-conception in learning equity

 As I retrospect the kinds of books that taught moral values and other social norms during our foundational years of learning.

I am thankful for some of the moral values based lesson I have had learnt while at school .

But I also don’t much agree with all of it.

Now that I have my own son who I try to teach equality and equity of all gender, respect for all, beautiful things that makes beautiful minds. I want to make sure, that I do not lay his foundational learning with contents that may create an image in his mind about differences: in abilities, responsibilities and the concept of every fair and ugly things .

Little did we know that, it all begin from the time we read a lesson in hindi or english that gives an example: Rani the fat, dark child.

And Priya the fair, beautiful and smart girl in the class.

Didn’t it not make us believe that 'fair' is beautiful and 'dark' is ugly?

Why was it Raju who only played cricket and football and not Riya?

Why was it Charu who was always helping her mother in cooking, washing and gardening ? And Raju was watching Tv the whole day.

Why were all the doctors in the grammar lessons only Dr Tim, Dr Jack and not Dr Grace, Dr Lily?

Why were it so that police were policemen and never police-women, fire-men not fire-women?

Why were it so that Pilots and Drivers were James and Henry, and not Rose and Lucy?

Why were the moral lessons not about the father cooking in the kitchen while the mother was off to work?

If I name it all, it would take pages.

These are few but greater examples that manipulated the young minds in growing up with the seed of difference mentally.

I begin to realize that these few seeds of difference bore fruits of larger mis-conception and drew a bigger line of difference in our society.

Thanks to the broad and inclusive concept of education that are slowly flowing in our system now.

How I wished, this broader concepts were included during our times!

It won’t have created such a society where ‘It’s a girls thing to design and love fashion, you are a boy’ and ‘You are a girl so football shouldn’t be your forte’ kind of teaching would be the norms.

Being educated parents, lets look forward to a future where society would no longer tag us by gender and assume abilities and capacities just by gender.