School / University: DPS Rohini School

GH4/57 Paschim Vihar Paschim Vihar - Delhi - (India)

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Kids swear off crackers, schools wait and watch NEW DELHI: The schools are running their campaigns against crackers like they do every year but the battle is far from won. In many schools, far from getting kids to stop bursting crackers altogether, the authorities can only hope that they'll not be bursting them on school premises."We got children to take two oaths this year that they will not burst crackers, and that they will not bring crackers to school," says R K Sharma, principal, Ahlcon Public School, Mayur Vihar. It's only after they took the oaths that the kids stopped bringing them. "This has been become an issue since the last few years," adds Sharma. According to Sapna Sukul, principal, Bloom Public School, their anti-cracker squad has been doing rounds but despite this, students manage to burst crackers in the school premises. "We have suspended a few students over this. Student council members have also been going from class to class to discourage this habit," says Sukul. "We had organized a number of activities including essay writing, discussions and skits during a special assembly," says Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School. Skits were performed on safety measures and first-aid in case, say, a cracker bursts in your hands. The participants also spoke against card parties and gambling.Similar efforts were on at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, which too has special assemblies and classroom talks. "The advocacy goes on at all levels. We cannot ignore the issue and students are told about the health, safety and environmental issues every year," says principal Lata Vaidyanathan.But some principals concede that the no-cracker campaign hasn't had as much of an impact as they would've liked. "We are not getting the desired success," says Sharma. The reason, he adds, is that "parents are not cooperating." "They burst crackers and forget the oaths their kids have taken at school. I have even had a parent complain that dissuading children from using crackers on Diwali is essentially an anti-Hindu campaign," he says.D K Bedi asks his student at Apeejay School, Pitampura, to at least be honest. "We run a campaign, tell them Diwali is a festival of diyas and motivate students to not burn crackers," he says, "But I also ask them not to say that they didn't burst crackers if they did. That's hypocrisy." Bedi finds girls respond more to the campaign than boys, and older kids more than younger ones. "Fourth and fifth graders love crackers and will burst them. Sixth and seventh graders are less enthusiastic. The older the kids get the more aware they become," he says.Information gathered from Internet from Click Here