Guiding Light: Missing mentor

From this week, we are starting a new section which speaks about various issues related to youth, and also seeks the participation of parents and guardians.

From this week, we are starting a new section, GUIDING LIGHT, which speaks about various issues related to youth. But these are issues which also seek the participation of parents, guardians, mentors, school teachers, professors, principals - the guiding light for youth, people they turn to most when they need to discuss their problems.

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This is also a space where youth and adults can send in their queries and thoughts, or suggest topics related to youth today, which they feel needs to be discussed. We will send these queries and suggested topics to our expert, Seema Sharma who will talk about them in her subsequent columns, along with other topics.

So just send us your mails here:vijayasharma@hindustantimes.com

This is our first article in the series:

The age of mentorlessness!
Seema Sharma (Clinical psychologist)

The ways of education, today, are more advanced than any of the other times. What surprises is that despite an incredible increase in the number of literates, the number of those ‘educated’ is not increasing, simultaneously. The distinction is understood only by those who care to take a deeper look into the definition of both these words – literacy and education.

Literacy is an ability to read, write and understand certain languages/subjects. However, education is this plus an overall growth of a character. Why is it that despite having the best of schools to study in, children find it extremely hard to stand the test of time? The evidence can be found in our socio-psychological relationships. Society is gradually diminishing into a system devoid of norms and values which are crucial in building a character. Why is this happening?