As a teacher and counselor, I often come across parents apprehensive about the rebellious behaviour of their adolescent children. Ironically, there are a pretty good number of teachers who struggle with the same problem as they deal with their students in secondary classes.
The book 'Boy of the Painted Cave' by Justin F Denzel apparently has something useful for all such parents and teachers. It has a simple theme with a profound argument. Set in Cro-Magnon times in the Dordogne Valley in Southern France, the story tells us about Tao, a fourteen-year-old boy and his struggle for survival in a prehistoric community of the Middle Stone Age some 20,000 years ago.
Tao is an orphan and has a deformed foot which is looked upon as a curse. The deformity prevents him from becoming as good a hunter as others and obviously he is not regarded as a useful member of the community. He is an outcast despised by everyone. His dream is to be a cave painter which he cannot realize unless he becomes the Chosen One. One day, as he has forgotten to bring along a dead rabbit that he caught, he is doomed by the leader of the clan to live in the wilderness where he befriends Ram, a wolf dog, by removing a bone splinter from his jaw. The two go together hunting in the forbidden lands. Eventually, he meets his mentor Graybeard, the Shaman of all tribes and gets his lessons in painting. His people get furious to see him painting in the caves as he has disobeyed the tradition of the clan. They order that he face Saxon, the sacred bull. The story ends with Tao beating the bull and becoming the cave painter that he has always wanted to be.
Beneath what looks like historical fiction and a children's tale of adventure, it must be possible to read a little more. Most adolescents have the same problem as Tao - an identity crisis arising from a feeling that they are inadequate. It is similar to the 'Not OK' position described in psychology and management. Every adolescent has a club foot, a defect, perceived by the society as a deformity and the society feels justified in its effort to correct the 'boy' or 'girl' in question. The fact that nobody is perfect seems to be conveniently ignored by the society when dealing with youngsters. The other problem is that an adolescent's likes and aspirations seldom find acceptance with parents and teachers. What matters in the end is whether or not there will be a wolf dog companion to help and a Graybeard who will be there to guide and encourage. Given these two, even an average kid can beat the terrifying Saxon called 'failure' in life and career, provided one has the vigor and tenacity to adhere to and pursue one's dream with conviction no matter what the world says.
The basic assumption that grown-ups are more intelligent and capable than children is in all probability wrong. Once we attempt a shift in this paradigm, the way we look at teenagers and the way we handle them (or want to handle them) are bound to undergo a sea change. In the big journey called life, the transition from superstition to common sense is an ongoing process and in this process, childhood and adolescence are inevitable stages that every one must pass through. It is reasonable to expect that those who have been through will have the patience to look at their followers with compassion. All it takes is a little understanding.
By Padma V L S Sattiraju
The book 'Boy of the Painted Cave' by Justin F Denzel apparently has something useful for all such parents and teachers. It has a simple theme with a profound argument. Set in Cro-Magnon times in the Dordogne Valley in Southern France, the story tells us about Tao, a fourteen-year-old boy and his struggle for survival in a prehistoric community of the Middle Stone Age some 20,000 years ago.
Tao is an orphan and has a deformed foot which is looked upon as a curse. The deformity prevents him from becoming as good a hunter as others and obviously he is not regarded as a useful member of the community. He is an outcast despised by everyone. His dream is to be a cave painter which he cannot realize unless he becomes the Chosen One. One day, as he has forgotten to bring along a dead rabbit that he caught, he is doomed by the leader of the clan to live in the wilderness where he befriends Ram, a wolf dog, by removing a bone splinter from his jaw. The two go together hunting in the forbidden lands. Eventually, he meets his mentor Graybeard, the Shaman of all tribes and gets his lessons in painting. His people get furious to see him painting in the caves as he has disobeyed the tradition of the clan. They order that he face Saxon, the sacred bull. The story ends with Tao beating the bull and becoming the cave painter that he has always wanted to be.
Beneath what looks like historical fiction and a children's tale of adventure, it must be possible to read a little more. Most adolescents have the same problem as Tao - an identity crisis arising from a feeling that they are inadequate. It is similar to the 'Not OK' position described in psychology and management. Every adolescent has a club foot, a defect, perceived by the society as a deformity and the society feels justified in its effort to correct the 'boy' or 'girl' in question. The fact that nobody is perfect seems to be conveniently ignored by the society when dealing with youngsters. The other problem is that an adolescent's likes and aspirations seldom find acceptance with parents and teachers. What matters in the end is whether or not there will be a wolf dog companion to help and a Graybeard who will be there to guide and encourage. Given these two, even an average kid can beat the terrifying Saxon called 'failure' in life and career, provided one has the vigor and tenacity to adhere to and pursue one's dream with conviction no matter what the world says.
The basic assumption that grown-ups are more intelligent and capable than children is in all probability wrong. Once we attempt a shift in this paradigm, the way we look at teenagers and the way we handle them (or want to handle them) are bound to undergo a sea change. In the big journey called life, the transition from superstition to common sense is an ongoing process and in this process, childhood and adolescence are inevitable stages that every one must pass through. It is reasonable to expect that those who have been through will have the patience to look at their followers with compassion. All it takes is a little understanding.
By Padma V L S Sattiraju
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