“Change can be created through education”

Sidath Wettimuny

Sidath Wettimuny former cricketer and a patron to the ‘Stop Child Cruelty’ Organization said,“when I was a young boy I was slapped twice and up to date I still do not know why I was slapped because I did not feel I deserved to be slapped. Over the years I have been thinking why was I slapped and what made that teacher do it. The conclusion I came to many years later was that the teacher was not trying to punish me, but he was trying to vent out his own frustration by using me or he tried to use me to teach the other kids by using me as a vehicle for abuse.

“I think that the seed of punishment gives rise to the fruits of resentment, discontent, dislike and all the bad qualities that can be fermented in our mind. I feel it is that fermentation that exudes especially when university students rag other students. This is the position that our adults can take up. Ragging is a weakness in the minds of the ragger. The student who rags is weak. I am shocked as to what I see, and as a country we have much violence in communities and political parties.all this stems from our youth. I believe we cannot change this attitude in a day. For instance we want to change the cricketing philosophy in our cricketers and we want to do it slowly, but steadily. We create this change through educating the coaches and I believe to change the attitudes of corporal punishment we must change the attitudes of the teachers.”

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist and a patron of ‘stop child cruelty’ organization, Otara Gunewardene said,“i have never been punished in my home or school. I always support kindness and passion for all, whether it be children or adults alike. As much as I see so much kindness and passion I see so much cruelty every day. It is important for us as a country to grow with kindness as it is our only way forward.”