The 21st century children, perhaps have an incredible power to learn. They attend school music classes, painting classes, chess classes and so on. They participate in quizzes, debates, sports and much more. As early as at the age of 9 or 10 their prowess as a dancer, painter, musician could challenge the professionalism of any adult. While some could be prodigies, yet every child is striving to achieve perfection in their endeavour. The earlier century on the other hand, mostly saw children in classroom and playgrounds. Television was a short time entertainment before dinner. In this century the lives of children revolve around their dreams and aspirations to attain a place of dignity in the society. The trains, busses rumble with the discussion of teenagers about their careers, politics, philosophy and other intricate matters related to life and existence.

The indefatigable energy of these children is astounding. But what is at stake? Are we not risking the health and happiness of these children? If we were to go back to the years where we spent our childhood, weren’t we happy playing with our friends, stealing cream and cheese biscuits from the kitchen and getting rebuked for it and then forgetting all about it and joining our parents, grand- parents, uncles, aunts, cousins into laughter for dinner.

Why have we then taken away the childhood (whose fond memories we still cherish) from our children and pushed them into a race whose consequences we are not aware of? Depression and suicides among children are an ignominious failure of society. We are either burdening them with more than what they can take or we are not teaching them to handle failure.

Role of teachers today is not only to instil hope and embed dreams into these young minds, but also to teach them to realise their own potential. It is the duty of teachers to recognize the potential of every child and direct them towards their goal. The role of teachers in the lives of children today, is not just to ensure an impeccable journey into adulthood or ensure a panoply of awards and achievements, but also to invigorate in them, the will to lead a peaceful and satisfied life.

Today, the world faces terrorism and other kinds of heinous crimes involving children and the youth. If this generation of teachers were to shove off the responsibility for educating the youth with the right knowledge of history, religion and other ethical and moral values, then the world would turn into a graveyard with distraught souls loitering about crying for peace. This treasure trove of the ingenious youth would go in vain unless it is in the hands of the audacious and savvy.