With less than a week left for Board exams, I have been seeing a lot of motivational tips, and messages on social media for the students who will be appearing for the exams. But this is my open letter to the parents because, let’s not forget, their reactions towards their children before and after the results is also very vital.
Dear Parents,
I know this is an important year for you because your child will appear for the board examination this year. You may have or may not have put a lot of restrictions on your child, cut down their TV watching time, switched off the Wi-Fi, spent too much money on their tuitions, IIT-JEE coaching and what not. I know you’re quite ambitious about your child’s future because we have been living in a society which believes that if your child scores well in the Board exams, their life is ‘set’, and otherwise they will not have a good future and won’t get into good colleges.
All I’m trying to say is, no matter how much your child scores, please stand by them. Tell your child It’s okay, It’s going to be okay, It’s not the end of the world if they score less than Sharma ji’s son, because let’s be honest, nobody’s life is set in stone, even after good results. Tell your child there’s so much more to life, please don’t take away the confidence of your child based on the results of any examination, after all, they’re just teenagers. If you stand by and support them in their hard times, that will mean so much to them. Give them your trust, if not it’ll break them, and they’ll be another victim of the society, failed to have matched its expectations.
Your children will eventually figure out, what they want to do in their life. Give them your assurance that no matter what happens, no matter how much they score, you will continue to believe in them and their abilities. There might be an aspiring poet, artist, writer, singer, cricketer, lawyer, comedian, journalist, writing their board exam tomorrow, not knowing there’s so much more they can achieve in the future. Don’t let that hidden talent be taken away from them before they even discover it themselves.
Let’s not forget every child works very hard. But not everyone can make into the IITs, not everyone can get into the college they want. Whatever marks your child scores, tell them it’s going to be okay. Your two words can have a massive positive impact on your child.
This board exam, instead of making promises to buy them a mobile, bike or laptop depending on their scores, please be their source of support. Give them your trust, hug them more, smile more irrespective of the marks they score, and tell them IT’S OKAY.
The author is a Global Ambassador at Postcards for Peace, an engineering student, writer and orator.