Helping others by helping ourselvesDilip P PatelIn my first contribution to this page in EducationWorld I introduced the subject of life skills education from the student‚s point of view. In the second contribution (September) from the vantage point of parents and teachers. Now let‚s examine what‚s in it for society as a whole. Every global vision has a local beginning. We have to identify it, focus on it and achieve it.While waiting recently to address an assembly of class X parents, I kept my ears open and heard many voices.”My daughter is very good in extra-curricular activities, but her interest in studies seems to be declining‚¦”” My son is over confident‚¦””I don‚t know how to make my son concentrate on his studies‚¦””These children just don‚t listen to us (the parents)‚¦””There is too much competition I don‚t know how our children will manage in the future‚¦”My thoughts went back to a couple of weeks ago when I had conducted a life skills workshop for the children of these very parents. What a contrast! The students were dreaming about becoming scientists, biotechnologists, olympians, indus-trialists, good politicians and so on and so forth. Aren‚t we adults and parents generating mediocrity within our children by limiting them?I couldn‚t help recalling the vision statement of our popular teacher President Dr. Abdul Kalam. His soaring vision and infectious enthusiasm have already started percolating into various streams of our daily life. He believes that India can become a developed nation by the year 2020.But the onus of attaining this goal, says Dr. Kalam, is upon the shoulders of young citizens studying in the nation‚s schools and colleges. Wherever he goes he exhorts students to think and dream big; to develop a scientific temper; to focus on values and ethics. Against the backdrop of the resources identified in Dr. Kalam‚s book Vision 2020, if we are able to ignite the student community the future will certainly be bright.Moreover if attaining developed nation status is our goal, it‚s important to set about developing the life skills of our youth to mould them into motivated, emotionally mature and responsible citizens. What could be the starting point of developing the life skills of the nation‚s youth? Strangely all the negatives in society. Social evils like drugs, chemical and sexual abuse, violence, communal disharmony, rampant corruption, suicides ‚ all can be monitored. And according to WHO (World Health Organisation), sustained life skills education will reduce their incidence considerably. In short, introducing like skills education is the first step towards creating a mature and responsible society in which the energies of youth will flow in creative and constructive directions. The path to development will have less road blocks and attaining development goals will be easier.Therefore let‚s get going. Imparting sustainable life skills education is possible if, as mentioned in previous columns, the adults influencing the lives of the young ‚ parents and teachers ‚ themselves become life skills learners. Recently at the end of a PTA meeting, the principal of a school in Bangalore made a very thought provoking remark. She said all parents should be re-inducted into school to be given life skills education over 15-20 sessions. If this happens, their children would automatically begin to excel! If responsible citizens are the expected outcome of the education process, it‚s important to infuse responsibility among students. The somewhat simplistic view of teachers and parents tends to be that a child who completes her home work, project work, and all other tasks diligently is responsible. But such expectations are in fact a search for obedience and compliance with diktats of the adult world. Responsibility or ‚Ëœresponse ability‚ must flow voluntarily and from within. It is stimulated by a motivational environment, balanced emotional development, and awareness that every act is a conscious choice.It is necessary therefore, that environments are created for children to voluntarily assume responsibility. First a sense of self-esteem must be created. This can‚t happen in an environment of punishment, scolding and public humiliation. Teachers‚ responses to usual problems like incomplete home work, inattention in class, disturbance, noise, indiscipline etc has to be different for each child.Can we, as teachers, assess ourselves for our ability to deal with problem situations, and attempt to respond differently? If so, our own self awareness (a valuable life skill) will improve, and we will increasingly develop other life skills such as communication, interpersonal skills, creative thinking and problem solving etc.How about the teachers responding, and writing to us about success in dealing with problem situations? We will be glad to feature some of the responses on these pages for the benefit of the growing number of teachers across the country. It‚s important to be aware that we are all involved in developing generation next. By learning life skills we could attain our goals faster. My email id is dilip@activityindia.com.(Dilip P. Patel is a director of The Activity, a Bangalore-based life skills education centre)