Murphy’s law states, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”
That seems to be the modus operandi in our universities these days. With every new facility provided comes a whole dozen new sets of rules a student is expected to follow. With an incident of vandalism occurring in another city comes another dozen new rules and security measures to prevent it from replicating. When did we, as students, lose faith of our institutions?
When was the last time you took a gander at the list of rules in your computer lab? Half the rules seem obnoxious, the other half are unenforced. In the process, an inkling inside me goes off telling me,“Does my college not even trust me?”
Across the country, there are incidents of exploitation of college resources. I agree that as students, we have not done much to inspire confidence. But in the process of preventing further exploitation, optimum utilisation of college resources by students is becoming secondary. A computer lab does not allow the use of outside laptops, no thumb drive can be connected to college computers, students are not given access to general mailing groups, permissions need to be taken for moving desks outside classrooms, and so much more as you simply stroll across the lobby.
In the process, one’s responsibility towards their surroundings deteriorates. Among every student, there is a standard of ethical behaviour towards their surroundings that is expected and adhered to. Not all of us are looking to tarnish the reputation of the institutes that we belong to. We know penalties and consequences shall follow our actions if we were to conduct ourselves in a manner that tarnished our institute. Every student understands that the final decision regarding the punishment for their actions lies with the management of the institute. Why place so many restrictions and constraints upon us then?
Universities are intended to be the bridge between blooming students and the world. They are intended to fill the gap between the prerequisites of our ambitions and our current skill sets. However, an important part of personality development is lost in Indian universities – ethics.
A student could potentially learn and understand spades from the trust their institute places upon them and the consequences they may suffer if they were to misuse the same. Making trust a factor between students and management and increasing the magnitude of punishments (as they truly are in the real world) may go a long way in improving the personality development a student undergoes. Any misuse of resources, even if not prevented by rules, is punishable if found detrimental with retrospective effect, as is the case in the real world.