Running head: Importance of Ethics in Early Education 1

Importance of Ethics in Early Education

Akshat .P. Gupta

Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Management Studies and Research (DAIMSR)

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN EARLY EDUCATION 2

Abstract

Ethics in early education is important for personality development, peace in the environment,

and also for the humane. Everyone has to understand what is right or wrong, not just for himself,

for everyone. For peace, everyone has to understand that what is morals, principles, sense of

integrity, values, honor, choice, conscience, responsibility, fairness, right, and honesty. We have

to prevent ourselves and our upcoming generation from violence and betrayal. For all of this, we

have to make some major or minor reforms in the education system.

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Importance of Ethics in Early Education

Ethics is a system of moral principles, sense of integrity, values, honor, choice,

conscience, responsibility, fairness, right, and honesty. Overall it's all about the qualities of a

Wellbeing or casually we use to say 'qualities of a Gentleman'. Though people use "Gentleman"

it's not like it is only for men it has the same importance for women and kids. Normally we learn

about ethics from our parents and elders and we can see the difference in sense of ethics from

person to person because every person has a different level of understanding and sense of ethics.

Learning from the parents and elders is a great source but we can also see the difference in

psychology and philosophical thought process which plays a vital role in the sense of ethics.

When we talk about the change in the sense of ethics we have to consider the regional

differences, culture, religion, status, leadership, governmental decision, and also the influence of

people around us. For example, when we talk about regional differences consider peoples who

have a huge land area like India and those people who live their life on an island like Japan, no

matter how much it's wrong for the people of Japan to kill the animals, the main source of food

for them is the seafood. Apart from Japan when we talk about India we have a huge land area so

we can depend on agriculture. So why in India do people also use to eat non-vegetarian food?

The simple answer to this question is population. So by considering this example regional

condition also plays a major role in the sense of ethics.

“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.”

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- Albert Camus

How dangerous is an unethical thought process?

Nowadays most people become a wild beasts, the only thing they know is self-

satisfaction and these selfish, corrupt and unethical people are everywhere around us. Some of

them lead a country as a part of a government, and because of such corrupt leadership ethical

people who work in these systems also become corrupt, and those who survived used to stay

ethically sound are suffered. Some of them are worse, they commit terrible crimes like murder

and rape and some people who are in our families, some have become our friends and some work

with us in our offices they have forgotten their values. If we see the cases of such crimes More

than 400,000 people die from homicide each year.

Rape Statistics by Country 2021

Rate: Incidents: Data Year: 2021Population:

India 1.81 22,172 2010 1,393,409,038

Australia 91.92 18,237 2003 25,788,215

United States 27.31 84,767 2010 332,915,073

United Kingdom 27.29 17,316 2010 68,207,116

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Img.1.source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-
rankings/rape-statistics-by-country

The number of these kinds of people isn't in hundreds nor thousands they are in millions

or billions or maybe in trillions. As we can see in the above statistics that western countries from

India have a higher ratio in such cases. The reason for

this difference is cultural and religious influence on

society. As we know that India is a culturally and

religiously sound country but now because of western

influence the ratio of such cases in India is keep

growing. "What has happened?" It's not like that India
doesn't have these kinds of crimes in history. But it was
grown after the invasion of western people like
Afghani (Delhi sultans), Mughals, French, Portuguese,
Img.2.source:https://upload.wikime
dia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/
6/61/American_GI_soliciting_prost
itution_in_Calcutta_in_1945.jpg/44
0px-
American_GI_soliciting_prostitutio
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IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN EARLY EDUCATION 6

and British. British came up with the unethical idea of prostitution in India. In ancient India,

before the invasion conditions were different wasn't perfect but much butter.

Even Lord Macaulay's address in British parliamentary

on 02 February 1835 which glorifies India, advocated

for the breakup of the spiritual and cultural heritage of

India by replacing its old and ancient education system

to conquer India, but lots of articles are denying this.

Even so maybe not in the era of the British invasion but

Img.3.source:
https://thewire.in/wp- ancient Indian conditions were better for sure. We can
content/uploads/2017/02/macaulay
-quote-pic.jpg read about such legacies of India in the book of history

e.g. stories of Nalanda University, stories of Gautam Buddha, Jatakas, Mahavir Jain, Ashok

Maurya, and also epics like Mahabharat (Bhagavad Gita) and Ramayana (Ramcharitmanas), etc.

These epics and stories also play an important in the development of ethical nature in India.

British also came up with kind thoughts like opening the opportunities for the women to work

outside the household life. Though they have also some other reasons too of doing this like if

women also work, they will be able to collect more tax.

"Why should we be concerned?" The unethical thought process is keep growing and the

people living around us getting in influence. Such unethical thinking will destroy the humane,

which is very important for ethical behavior.

“If you are addicted to the bad company then you don't need enemies”.

It's simply that we don't want enemies around us. We want peace in our society but now

we herd that some people have cheated on his wife or husband, someone has been cheated in a
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN EARLY EDUCATION 7

commercial or business relationship, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, mental

harassment, bullies, theft, untouchable concept, intimidation, torment, terrorism, banking fraud

and so on. 'What is all this?' All of this is unethical behavior. Apart from these major issues, we

can see some minor issues like the use of abusive language, smoking, liquor, tobacco, aggressive

behavior, and materialistic importance have become common even in kids. Such things become a

hindrance in the mental development of children and the future they also become a hindrance in

their financial and personal growth.

'Who is affected or vulnerable?' If seen, every person is affected by this, but the most affected are

the poor people and in some areas people from the lower or backward classes. Due to their

condition, the behavior of people towards them changes. In many places, they are not even

treated like human beings. There is an old case which can tell us the condition of these people.

Ramasamy vs State (Madras High Court Case)

Rajakannu and Sengeni are a couple from the oppressed Irula tribe who labor in the fields

of upper-caste men to control rat infestation and catch venomous snakes. They suffer a lot

because of their caste. Rajakannu is called to a rich man's dwelling to catch a snake that sneaked

inside a room. The next day, a case of burglary is reported when the wife of the man reports

missing jewelry pieces from her closet and raises doubt on Rajakannu. The police invade

Rajakannu's home to find evidence. Rajakannu had left the town earlier for work. During the

invasion, the police brutally beat and unlawfully detain the pregnant Sengeni. The police arrest

other relatives: Rajakannu's brother Iruttupan, his sister Pachaiammal and his brother-in-law

Mosakutty, and torture them to confess Rajakannu's whereabouts. The police find Rajakannu and

imprison him. They torture him to confess the crime but release Sengeni. Later, she is informed
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that all three men in detention are absconding and police threaten her furthermore to tell them

about their whereabouts.

Mythra, who teaches adults from the Irula tribe, learns about Chandru, a lawyer who

fights cases for tribal communities, and manages to convince him to seekjustice for Sengeni.

After listening to the narration of all events that happened until then from Sengeni, Chandru files

a habeas corpus case in the court. The government lawyer, based on the police officers' evidence,

argues that Rajakannu and the other two had absconded from the police custody. Finding gaps in

the witnesses' statements, Chandru discovers that they were committing perjury and asks the

court to investigate two policemen – Sub- Inspector Gurumurthy, a casteist, and constable

Veerasamy.

Advocate General Ram Mohan takes over the case and in defense of the police, claims

that the three accused have fled to Kerala. Varadarajulu, the employer of Iruttapan,

acknowledges that Iruttapan informed him through a phone call that he had fled to Kerala after

committing robbery. Chandru discovered that the three policemen in question went to Kerala to

make a phone call to Varadarajulu which Gurumurthy admits, that he mimicked the voice of

Iruttapan. Chandru and Mythra find Rajakannu dead in the middle of a road near the border of

Pondicherry. Both believe that Rajakannu did not die due to a car accident, rather due to lockup

murder.

Chandru consults the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem examination on Rajakannu.

The pathologist says the cause of death was due to the breaking of the ribcage but theorizes that

this could be caused by a car running over him. Veerasamy confesses to Ram Mohan that

Rajakannu died in custody. Veerasamy called Guru after the death. Guru told Veerasamy that he

should stage that both have escaped and leave Rajakannu on the road, framing his death as
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occurring due to a car accident. Mosakutty and Iruttapan were transferred to another jail in

Kerala. After hearing this, Ram Mohan advises them to maintain their narrative in court.

Chandru checks the call history of the police station and informs the court that a call to Guru's

residence was made at 9:10pm, which does not corroborate with Veerasamy's evidence. Chandru

asks the court for more time to investigate.

Chandru, Mythra, Sengeni, and the Irular tribe campaign against the injustice that had

happened. Chandru finds that Irutappan indeed called Varadarajulu, but the police coerced him

to make that call. Mythra finds Iruttapan and Mosakutty and they testify in court about the

torture all three of them went through and how the policemen killed Rajakannu. IG Perumalsamy

says the policemen took a bribe from the actual thief. Chandru also says that on the road where

Rajakannu's corpse was found, there were a set of tire marks. Some footprints matched Guru's

and Constable Kiruba's footprints. After hearing this evidence, the court announces the verdict:

the policemen who killed Rajakannu should be arrested, Sengeni will get ₹3 lakh (equivalent to

₹18 lakh or US$25,000 in 2020) and half a ground land as compensation while Iruttapan,

Mosakutty, and Pachaiamma get ₹2 lakh (equivalent to ₹12 lakh or US$16,000 in 2020) each.

Sengeni thanks Chandru for his help and he attends the inauguration of Sengeni's new house,

ful*lling Rajakannu's dream to get Sengeni a new house. There is also a movie on this case by

the name of 'Jai Bheem', there are also some movies and stories which tell us about the condition

of these people like Article 15, The Backward Class, etc. 'Why these people cannot be seen as a

human or treated like other normal people? Why a week has to survive a lot? Why we cannot

show the same empathy to everyone or why do we have selective empathy?'

Possible solutions:
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'What will work?' Parents must focus on ethical, moral, philosophical, and psychological

development from an early age but, it is not only parents' job to teach about morals. In today's

era, a child spends more of his time in school, colleges, and studies than at home, so the

responsibility of learning morals and values is more with the education system than that of the

parents. These teaching work at any age, in fact even in some jails we already provide such

teachings to the criminals for their brainwash. But in this situation success rate is very low

because it is very tough to change someone's habits or we can say it is impossible to change a

person completely. It is scientifically proven that the human body and muscles also have

memory which is known as episodic memory. If a person loses his memory in an accident (in

medical science known as Amnesia), that person never loses some memory like how to talk,

drive, eat, dress, and so on. Because all these things have become a habit, their memories get

stored in our body, muscles, and subconscious mind which is also called long-term memory and

reflexes. And it is also about the brain capacity, at around 3 pounds in weight, the human brain is

a staggering feat of engineering, with around 100 billion neurons interconnected via trillions of

synapses.

Throughout a lifetime, the brain changes more than any other part of the body.

From the moment the brain begins to develop in the third week of gestation to old age, its

complex structures and functions are changing, networks and pathways connecting and severing.

During the first few years of life, the brain forms more than 1 million new neural

connections every second. The size of the brain increases fourfold in the preschool period, and

by age 6, it reaches around 90% of its adult volume.

The frontal lobes are the area of the brain responsible for executive functions, such as

planning, working memory, and impulse control. These are among the last areas of the brain to
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mature, and they may not develop fully until around 35 years of age. Some studies show that

one-third of older adults struggle with declarative memory — that is, memories of facts or events

that the brain has stored and can retrieve. That's why it is important to give such knowledge at an

early age. We must always keep learning it because, with age, our ability to understand things

also makes a difference. Our level of understanding increases and our experience also plays an

important role in this.

Conclusion:

Since India came in influence of western countries and had the attacks on Indian

traditional education which was very sound in every sector even in comparison of current

education. Nalanda University was the International University attacked three times, first two

times it was restored but the third time in 1193, the Nalanda University was destroyed by the

Islamic fanatic Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk; this event is seen by scholars as a late milestone in the

decline of Buddhism and the traditional education in India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj,

in his chronicle the Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and

thousands beheaded and the burning of the library continued for several months and smoke from

the more than four lakh burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.

After that in British rule, Macaulay devoted his efforts to reform the Indian criminal code,

putting the British and natives on an equal legal footing, and establishing an educational system

based upon the British model, which involved introducing Indians to European ideas from the

Renaissance. Because of this policy, Indian traditional education plays an important role for

develop ethical behavior reach to its extinct. Now we are surviving with such criminal and

unethical issues which only can be changed by proper education and teaching. We have to make
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some major reforms in our current education system known as the Macaulay education system.

Some countries already adopted ethics as a part of education in their way like providing

psychological and philosophical counseling, reestablishing Indian traditional education best

example is Sanskrit University in Germany (there are a total of fourteen Sanskrit universities in

Germany), eighteen Sanskrit universities in India, and more than 200 Gurukuls. But this is not

enough, all the members of the country have to take responsibility for the peace and maintain

humanity in the environment.

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References
 https://ourworldindata.org/homicides

 https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/rape-statistics-by-country

 Indian History

 Rajakannu vs State (Madras High Court case)

 Movies (Jai Bheem, Article 15)

 Book “The Backward Class”.

 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319185