Making Amrita Vidyalayam Anger-Free Zone

Amrita Vidyalayam students presented an excellent skit called “Freedom from Anger” on January 29, 2020 to spread the message of maintaining a joyful learning environment. As part of its thrust on ‘Joyful Education and Holistic Fitness’, CBSE has urged all affiliated schools and school leaders to make efforts to convert their schools into anger-free zones.

The skit depicting situations faced by students in their daily lives was presented in English, Hindi and Marathi. The first scene showed two friends fighting over their lunch boxes which ultimately leads to spilling of food resulting in anger. In the second scene, a mother and son were shown having a heated verbal exchange about the son’s addiction to his mobile phone, and the son walks out angrily throwing the cell phone away. The third scene was a typical school scene where children tend to jump queues, and a fight erupts which leads to one child being bullied by four or five others.

Once these scenes were enacted, the students spoke about how such situations can have a different outcome if anger was managed efficiently. They spoke about “walking away from anger and calming down”, “listening to elders with a patient ear”, and “counting backwards”. The students also stressed upon the benefits they receive due to regular practice of yoga and meditation at Amrita Vidyalayam. “Laughter Yoga” which is a regular feature during Mass PT has gone a long way in helping them to overcome stress.

The students enjoyed the skit immensely as it helped to empower them with Affective Skills. As they could picture themselves in similar situations, it also helped to eradicate emotions like fear, disrespect, humiliation and hurt, which would in turn help them overcome their own anger issues.