MAKE YOUR ACTIONS COUNT

 

“You’ll never change

Your life until you

Change something

You do daily

The secret of your

Success is found in

Your daily routine.”

Do you know that what is insisted upon when we are very young, becomes our habit?  My mother used to insist that we turn off the lights and fans when we leave the room. But, it took a while for us to remember to do it. She would scold us if we didn’t. So, in order to escape her scolding, we switched off the lights and fans without fail. Thus, it became a habit.

She also insisted that we finish up the food in our plate without wasting even a morsel. As an adult, we don’t need anyone to remind us, as it is deeply etched in us. It is not only at home, but anywhere we see any kind of wastage, we try to stop it.

What is the attitude we are developing in our children? Recently, I was told that the corporation has handed over the responsibility of collecting garbage from houses and institutions, to private parties, in the suburbs. Our institution will be charged an enormous amount every month I was told.

The admin staff was discussing about the huge sum that was being demanded for clearing all the waste dumped in classrooms by the students. But my mind was thinking about inculcating the right habit in children, and this was the right opportunity. Even adults never understood why we should not litter. The exorbitant charges alone hit them.

I told them, it is not about paying a huge amount to clear the garbage in the school, it is about instilling the right values in children, who are in the habit of tearing pages from the notebook and littering the classroom, or dumping the food packed by the mother into the class dustbin, because they don’t like that food.

Thus, we began the drive for cleanliness. Every afternoon, an announcement would go in the public address system, creating an awareness in students about the number of trees that are felled to make notebooks, that it should not be misused, the effort that goes in cultivating and cooking the food that comes to our plate and the respect that we need to show by not wasting the food. That everything should be valued.

A system has been created to ensure that paper and food are not found in the class dustbin or anywhere else in the school. For several years now, we have the practice of awarding an “Eco- friendly” class certificate to all the classes that keep their classroom clean throughout the month.

A bell goes one minute before the last bell for the day, for students to check if there is any litter in the class. It is called the “clean-up” bell. It is a reminder to students to keep their classroom clean. The students also learn not to waste anything and to value everything. Every Friday, students and teachers of one of the four houses clean the entire school campus. We have been doing this since 2014, when Swachh Bharat was announced.

These are very simple actions, but how many of us practice it? If we insist on it consistently, we can achieve humongous results. Our country can also be clean and litter free in public places. Awareness is the key. Anything that is practiced repeatedly will become a habit. Let us take baby steps in this journey of creating a clean and green India.

Let this become our contribution to our country; raising responsible citizens. Hey little ones, the country is counting on your actions!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting