A soft heart for kids by Abdul-Aziz Ali Omer

Muhyi Eldeen Homeida is a young cordial fellow.His commitment to his family welfare and an oath of loyalty to serve his country propelled him to move to West Darfur. From there, he extended a sympathetic hand touching many of school children saking from harsh cold and fear out of potential beating for their delayed arrival at distant schools. With an anxious mind, he shouted “No to physical punishment. Here is my reply to his message that touched a raw wound.
Dear Homeida,
Thank you you for giving us a glimpse of your emotions about the miserable circumstances of children in West DarFur. You have a soft heart for kids.
The school children you saw in West Darfur remind me of the redwings or the birds of the open fields as defined by Patrick Dickinson who lamented hundreds of red-wings as he wrote"...hopped through the shivering town,unrecognized,unknown.They came among us as poets not asking or expecting to be recognized for what they are". It is an incredible apathy and grossly unfair to leave our kids as a prey to biting cold.Where is our solicitude towards children? It is our binding duty to provide them with decent wintry clothing.
One morning, I entered into my classroom where pupils couldn't prevent smiles-not bleak-from reaching to their lips.One of them whispered that my person doesn't inflict beating on them to explain the reason of their visible relief and joy. Laurie Lee once asked : " Who stares into the sun and smiles and feels no pain?" I can answer my pupils for my cup of sadness overflows.It is an open secret that Idon't carry a whip but my imagination inviting curiosity and rekindling the hope of learning.
I wince in sympathy as I hear the screams of pupils who need warmth, love rather than being punished or chided.What I suffered from was not tears of flogging but tears of punishing cold.Teachers instruct apupil within the vision range of other gloating pupils to dip or put his hand into cool water and then lashes decend on wet palms. It was a scene of humiliation and sadism. Teachers resort to punishment to correct a misbehaving child, the delay in attendnce at school, to prevent the neglect of homework and to assert thier influence.Other means of non-physical punishment should be considered to make school a positive,inspiring and caring environment.

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