THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT ADHERING TO ETHNICAL STEREOTYPES:
Children are forced into streams and subjects they may not like solely because of their ethnicity on a daily basis.
As a student of Indian nationality, I understand the plight that these children are forced to face. Although I have never faced this directly, I can understand these issues because of the attitude schools and families in India tend to have towards certain subjects and their importance. For instance, maths and the sciences are normally given top priority while everything else matters little or nothing: especially the arts. The roots of this problem do not arise from a single tree, nor do they rise from any one occurrence. In other words, the problem is not the fact that the people are narrow-minded. The issue is how less scope professions such as an artist or musician have among the Indian people. This is because of the fact that people are unable to make it big in the world of music or art, unless they have had a solid foundation in it: which only limits itself to the rich and upper class. Thus, the people of lower classes —which make up the vast majority of the Indian population— are rarely able to make a living of such a profession. Another problem is the huge population in the country. More people mean more talent and this means that more people will try out for these jobs and streams. With the fierce competition, few can make it to the top. For all the reasons above, poorer families are reluctant to allow their children to take up “extra” professions like these; they would much prefer stable professions like medicine, engineering or anything relating to maths or sciences. Since these fields require the utmost focus on the aforementioned subjects, children are forced to study these, regardless of whether they want to or not. All this is only done because their parents want them to succeed, not that they feel that they are the only ways in life. However, the tide has been changing in India. A plethora of new talent in the arts is seen today, as more and more artisans come into the spotlight. We have seen A.R Rahman, who has won multiple international musical awards —Grammy Awards, for instance— who began from humble origins. Of late, there are many opportunities for the youth. So Parents, please don’t be afraid to allow your children to pursue their interests. For a career that doesn't interest them will doom them to a life devoid of happiness, for working will become something they would detest.
I rest my case.
Comments
Post a Comment