MORALS CANNOT BE TAUGHT, THEY MUST BE LEARNT BY PRACTICE

MORALS CANNOT BE TAUGHT, THEY MUST BE LEARNT BY PRACTICE

Moral values remain central to the development of any society. It defines the very existence of the society. A society without moral values becomes corrupt and non-functioning. Such prolonged effect leads to the destruction of the society. From the very beginning, the morals have framed the way people live in any society and continuously contribute towards its development.

However, there is particular saying that morals cannot be taught. While judging any such statement, one thing should be considered that moral is a set of values which person follows. These values are properly defined in the society and affect our behavior in different situations. Having said so, it should be clearly understood that any set of rules can be taught and learnt. What matters while teaching those rules is the age at which these morals are being imparted? It is believed that childhood is the best time when moral values can be taught. Scientist believes that an infant’s brain develops about one hundred trillion brain synapses, which implies the capacity of brain to learn more. Physical and mental abilities of child grow at an amazing rate and he/she learns the most from birth up to the age of six years. It is during this period, the human brain develops the quality and high potential of recognising shapes, drawing things, singing and playing and other new learning in its lifetime. As this phase plays a crucial role in child’s brain development, this time should be utilised to impart more values to the time, so that it gets retained till his lifetime.

Schooling and home environment also plays a crucial role in the development of moral values in the society. Despite the family acts as the first place where people start learning moral values, school and environment which they grow up also leaves certain impact. It is said that education begin from the moment a child is taken home, but it is noted fact that grooming starts when they attend the playschool or complete their primary education. This acts as the primary time when the society behavior should be imparted. Parents play a major role in influencing the child’s learning experience and education. The activities parents perform, creates a vast impact in the development of the child. A positive environment creates a positive impact whereas a negative environment creates negative impact as well. All these development and values learned remain for the lifetime.

Apart from the schooling and proper parenting, the other thing which affects the moral value of the society is the tradition and value system which the person belongs to. While to some this acts as a positive thing for other it acts as a negative thing. The Indian society is still carrying its essence. Indian society is characterised with traditional value system which is often preserved by the older generations. Globalisation has facilitated an intermixing of culture which brings western culture close to Indian society. While a child is much attracted to the glamour of westernisation, his parent is reluctant to adopt such culture. This creates a gap between the child and his parent, which in sociological parlance is known as ‘Generation Gap’. Due to this generation gap, a child find himself isolated from his family members in terms of his/her thought and action. This is aggravated when the parent fails to understand the child’s mentality. Getting frustrated from his/her family life, a child prefers to live in isolation. Such isolation forces them to believe that moral values are of no use to them and thus they leave their values and start their ill behavior towards the society.

Religion also plays an important role in defining the value system of the society. Although in present terms, religion has been misused by many of its followers but the original concept has always remained around the moral values of the society. Religious followers those who involve in clashes and blame game to others are the one who ignore this basic teaching. Methods and rituals enshrined in our religious texts also preach how to follow a good conduct, how to behave in the society, how to interact and respect others.

Having stated all these facts, it must be considered that moral values differ from one place to another. Moral values have their regional variations that are solely affecting by the tradition of the society. For example, bigamy is followed in many societies, however, it is banned by many of them. So, when a person belonging to a society where bigamy is banned meets another person where bigamy is accepted, clashes over theory are bound to happen. Lack of morality also leads to formation of a corrupt society. Tackling corruption is a major agenda in today’s world. India, like other countries, has also witnessed revolution to uproot corrupted system which was started by many leaders.

Despite all these facts, few people still believe that moral values are inherent to a person and cannot be imparted through mere knowledge and skill. They believe that a person has to be inherently good in order to follow moral values. But this does not hold true. Only a mentally challenged person cannot be taught moral values. Even the Indian laws are designed in such a way that it rejects the concept that morals cannot be taught. Each law defines an established convention of society’s moral. It punishes the culprit if any wrong is done with the aim to inculcate moral values in the people in two ways, first by detailing what is wrong and then by providing stringent punishment to the wrongdoers. Also, there are many governmental schemes which are aimed at moral upliftment of the society.

At this point, it must be understood that the existence of moral values today clearly represent that they can be taught by different means like family environment, schools and colleges, by religious texts and by societies.