Lessons that taught me nothing: Classroom abuse in India

-Jatin Mathur

Unspoken Trauma in Indian Schools

Once a teacher called me “gandi machhli” in front of the whole class, I was humiliated, disgraced and disrespected and this childhood memory is a nightmare for me, almost every child face child abuse in school but no one speaks, Indian education system and the training and pressure on students to blindly respect their teachers and professors who themselves have a very egoistic limited world view is the reason students kill their dreams. Schools and colleges train students to fit in, to join the rat race and to dream with their limited understanding, they’re trained to get marks and jobs, not education and exposure. Almost all faculty during both my degrees were stuck in the same job with very limited understanding of the dynamic paradigm shift in the industry, every doubt would result in ridicule, every missed class would result in disrespectful disgusting remarks publicly.

The teachers and faculty carry a holier than thou attitude without doing much themselves, knowing a few formulae that they have been teaching for years don’t make them bigger and better than others. Some teachers teach to impart knowledge, but some teach to exercise power. I turned out alright because my parents are very chill people, but most parents carry fear of the future instilled by the society and socio-economic scenario of the world. Students need space to grow and exposure to resources, our education system deprives them of it.

The whole idea of listening to your elders and teachers is flawed. They’re human beings who operate from their current life state which could be anything, they have problems of their own. And to top it the ego often comes out as anger on students, they don’t deserve it. Some teachers were so awful to me I still think what I had done to face that? A teacher once sarcastically asked the entire class who is friends with me when I was in 7th, understandably most didn’t raise their hands who wanted to offend a cruel teacher like that. I dropped my pencil box and went under the bench to collect it so I could avoid seeing the results. Two of my friends did raise their hands as they didn’t care about the teacher much. Later she laughed that no one considers me a friend, I burst into tears. This reached my brother who was in the same school in 9th class. The teacher got scared because my dad was a well known person in the town (possibly why she hated me), I don’t remember much of what happened post that but that shameless woman DMs me on FB like she was nice to me. 

Flawed Notions of Respect and Discipline

Our education system needs reforms, it needs sensitivity training for teachers. You are working with children, you can scar them for life with a momentary lapse in your judgment and behaviour. I hated school, no one should hate school. It’s the most impactful time of your life. I have many nightmarish stories from school and college, stories about things that were done to me, stories about things that were done to others. I know you all have them too, how unfortunate is that? Adults outing their insecurities on children, there’s nothing worse than that. A child in India is expected to follow everyone, the child is expected to seek approval from everyone from parents, grandparents, extended family, siblings, teachers etc. It’s never ending and exhausting. No child should have to go through this, they’re born to live not follow. And I am not even starting about the rampant abuse and violence which is so normalised in our society. How are these monsters given charge of shaping futures, shouldn’t there be some protocols that filters incompetent people like that.

Always remember, those monsters took their insecurities out on you because they were weak, they tried to limit you because they had limited world views and were trapped in it, you my friend were born to fly. I hope you all overcome the trauma and someday maybe we laugh about it. What is it that a teacher can’t teach in the classroom so they ask you to join their tuitions? Isn’t it extortion and abuse of power? Parents are made to feel helpless and irresponsible if they don’t give in and follow the traumatic trends, even summer vacations are hijacked.

Math was my favourite subject. I was scoring well until class 7th when my teacher was replaced and the person who filled in made us kneel on concrete and beat us on our palms with a stick. My parents got him fired immediately but the trauma remained and I never enjoyed math. I have forgiven all of them for what they did to me, their hatred is not my burden to carry, but I will never forgive people who still enable it. You have the entire information in the world at your disposal, if you still can’t see how it affects a child, you don’t deserve one. And those who defend such monsters in the name of discipline and glorify them every year on teachers day, let me tell you one thing- discipline comes from habit, not fear. A well rested and a healthy mind forms habits and trauma forms unhealthy patterns. Unlearn and do better.

The rampant mental, verbal and physical abuse deprives them of their dignity, they grow up believing that they deserve abuse, always walking on egg shells, over extending themselves to please people. Mundane seems acceptable and opportunities scare them, all because of the trauma. 

The Odd Angle : Humanistic Teaching

I (Jatin) read this personal account on X long ago, but couldn't trace the source. However this is the story of most people, who were taught under the “banking model of education,” where teachers deposit facts into passive students. This dehumanizes both teachers and learners and suppresses critical thinking as mentioned by Paulo Freire in ‘Pedagogy of oppressed’. I still remember one of my teachers at school known for his sadistic behaviour. I remember he would make people walk on knees in front of the whole class for not bringing a book. I often think of the consequences such pedagogy brought for us. There were students who were filled with curiosity, creativity and experimental attitude but sooner or later they lost their confidence. It was this consistent curtailing of their agency, freethinking and freedom that killed their creativity. The whole class feared uttering a single word in front of him. We started trying cause we would have committed a mistake and offended him. There were instances when 7th graders urinated in their pants due to the fear. I do acknowledge some students were psychologically resistant owing to their teenage years, the so-called undisciplined. I consider them untreated and neglected ones, they were the ones who were ridiculed for no reason. All teachers had notions about them, they were labelled idiots and most teachers thought of them as undeserving of compassion or kindness. Contrary to their claims the strict teachers were failures, their methods and approach was not only flawed but also harmful to human dignity and potential. My favourite teachers have been ones like Morrie (see Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom) who encourage students to cherish relationships, embrace their true selves, and prioritize kindness and empathy over material success. They were believed to be advocates for “problem-posing” education, where students and teachers co-create knowledge through dialogue, empowerment, and reflection on lived experiences as Freire proposed. My most learnings have been with the teachers who fostered a connection than competition, they were the ones who valued each child. They were not the radios emitting information but humans listening to me. They were the ones who validated my ideas, collaborated in my learnings and made me a free thinker. They didn’t scold me for thinking my own way, it was not the stick that guided my attention to them but the connection and curiosity. There were students who were dumb in front of one teacher but were geniuses in other classes. Instead of asking me to live a certain ideal, they lived it and inspired me for that. They were like Buddha who did not pass values to me but they gave me a vision so that values emerge from me. They did not seek a disciplined mind but a transformed mind without fear. To heal and rebuild, we must unlearn toxic patterns, defend their self-worth, and demand compassionate, inclusive educational practices that nurture the mind and not discipline.  

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