Discipline in School = Slut-Shaming, Hug-Banning & Moral Policing?
Slut-shamed for a hug. Detained for wearing your hair loose. Punished for talking to a boy. When will this stop?
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Abira Banerjee was disallowed from participating in school fests because a teacher had spotted her talking to a boy backstage. Yes, you read that right. Talking. She was in Class 11 at the time, studying in a reputed school in Kolkata.
In Pavani Khanna’s boarding school in Dehradun too, boys and girls were not allowed to talk to each other, let alone sit together.
For Abhipsha Mahapatro, the moral policing continued long after school. At her college in Pune, girls who wore their hair loose were told they were ‘inviting’ attention, and were subsequently punished with detention.
Vidya Ram was thrashed with a stick by her tutor for talking to a girl with a “bad reputation in school”.
Clearly, the Thiruvananthapuram school which suspended the two teenagers is not the only place where teachers turn moral police.
The Quint asked readers to share their worst examples of moral policing in schools, and even colleges, across India. We also asked them to share what they would want to tell their teachers today.
The Crime Called Talking
Abira Banerjee writes, “I was not allowed to participate in school fests because a teacher spotted me talking to a guy backstage. And the funny thing is that nobody would tell me the reason why I was being disallowed until one day a teacher decided to just let me know. These were the words used, “You were found doing something with a guy in a school fest.” I was honestly amazed at the sheer nonsense.”
Pavani Khanna went to a boarding school in Dehradun for her Class 11 and 12.
She adds, “On Sundays, we were allowed outside for maybe an hour or two to get snacks and then we had to go back inside so that the boys could come get their snacks and play cricket for hours. It was ridiculous to say the least.”
#AdarshLadki, Don't Talk to Boys
Utsha Mitra remembers the time she was “caught” speaking to a boy at school.
#AdarshLadki, Don't Talk to Girls Either
Vidya Ram recalls a horrific incident from when she was in Class 8.
If Nainika Agrawal could respond to her teacher from Mumbai’s Jamnabai Narsee School today, what would she say?
‘Why So Vulgar?’
Priyanka Paul tells us about her experience in a Navi Mumbai school: “I was once berated in front of the class for scientifically explaining what a menstrual cycle is to a boy (something our education system doesn’t exactly do) and was told that school isn’t the place for such vulgar talks.” She was in Class 9 at the time.
‘Don’t Look Inviting’
No matter how reputed or prestigious the institution, moral policing seems to be the norm everywhere. Here’s what Abhipsha Mahapatro has to say about her alma mater, Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication, Pune.
Sanjana Ray studied at La Martiniere For Girls, one of the top schools in Kolkata if magazine rankings are anything to go by. Here’s what she faced in Class 10.
And that’s not all. Sanjana adds, “In Class 11, a classmate of mine was seen hugging a boy at an inter-school fest and was suspended from the club that was hosting the fest soon after. She also got a warning from the school that she could be suspended from school too. For hugging a guy at a fest!”
‘Don't Shake Hands’
Idrish Mohammed, a student at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, is exasperated at the extent moral policing can go to. “We were asked not to shake hands with those from the opposite gender in university!”
Moral Policing Mein Bhi Gender Discrimination
If you thought that boys and girls have it equally as bad, think again. Here’s what Pallavi Prasad had to go through when she was a Class 9 student at Delhi’s famed DPS RK Puram.
‘Don't Go Watch Movies’
Nishtha Gautam says: “In Aligarh Muslim University, girl students weren’t allowed to go to cinema halls. I went out with my roommates and the warden not only slut-shamed me but also my mother, a Miranda House alumna”.
Goodbye, Logic
Mriganka Gupta recalls the bizarre ballroom dance in her school, “For our Annual Day musical, there was a ballroom dance number involved and our principal decided to tweak it by making the boys hold the girls by their elbows alone because anything else would be sexual. This was a prestigious school in Bangalore and we were in Class 10.”
The #AdarshLadki Handbook
- Don’t talk to boys.
- Don’t talk to girls.
- Don’t wear your hair loose.
- Don’t invite attention.
- Don’t hug anyone.
- Don’t hold hands.
- Don’t make friends.
- Don’t go to watch movies.
- Don’t shake your legs?!
The Save-Girls-From-Boys Brigade
Sameeksha Khare, who studied at a reputed school in Noida, writes, “In Class 8, two or three of us were taken outside our class and our teacher was aggressively trying to tell us how having boyfriends or being too friendly with boys will ruin our lives and affect our marks, and how decent students don't do all this.”
Juni Bahuguna had a similar experience in Class 9, in one of Lucknow’s best schools. “This Chemistry teacher of mine did not miss any opportunity to talk about how being friends with those of the opposite gender leads to distraction and failure. On a random day, she cornered me outside my class and asked me “How many boyfriends do you have?”
I was completely confused and had no idea how to react. I just said I don't have any but she went on and on about how she had heard from many of my teachers that I only talked to boys and therefore must have many boyfriends.”
Reverse Moral Policing
If you’ve read enough about the moral police shaming boys and girls for being friendly towards each other, here’s a story that is as uncomfortable. But in exactly the opposite way.
Antara Telang writes, “When I was in Class 9 and 10, there was a particular boy who had a crush on me and my Hindi teacher found out about it.”
On a Lighter Note – Doubtful Cousins?
The teachers don’t always get the privilege of the last laugh. In Smriti Sanjay Sant’s case, her class teacher definitely didn’t.
She recalls, “My school in Chennai was co-ed till Class 5. The boys wing was diagonally opposite my building and my cousin brother studied in the same school. My grandmother asked me to give him a dabba. I met him after school and gave him the dabba and hugged him. My class teacher caught this and the next day, she dragged me aside and berated me.”
Dear Teachers...
What would the victims of moral policing want to tell their teachers today?
Abira Banerjee, disallowed from competing in fests because she spoke to a boy, answers, “I would tell my teachers that the least they could do was ask what it was and not judge by their predetermined thoughts. I was a talented dancer and this not just became a hindrance to my talent but it was an encouragement for others to bully me.”
Pavani Khanna writes, “I would tell the principal that they should have taught children how to function in the real world instead of shutting us off from the world in the way they did.”
Share Your Story
If you’ve had enough of slut-shaming and moral policing in schools and colleges across the country and want to speak up against it, write in to us at Editor@thequint.com or meghnad.bose@thequint.com.
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