chalkboard 15 by Editorial Zone
Published Date: 24/05/07
With the advent of technology, the schools that most of us grew up in are changing beyond belief. This is not a theoretical belief that I have. It is a result of a recent visit to my sons school to see things for myself. Where we had simple tables and chairs with little more than our books, pens and pencils, the kids nowadays have ergonomically designed desks with computers, scanners, printers, CD writers and the like. And where the teachers in our times used the chalkboard, or the blackboard as it was commonly referred to, you have erasable laminated boards and erasable markers.
But what I mourn most about the new fangled technology innovations in the classroom are the disappearance of the chalkboards. There is a personal reason behind this lament. And it has a lot to do with the fact that during my entire schooling, I had a lot to do with the chalkboard. While still in the primary school, getting near the chalkboard and its fine layer of chalk dust was an experience that always gave me the goose bumps. There was a distinct smell to a classroom with a chalkboard in it. While I was initially averse to the smell, I soon grew to like it.
When I was in the middle school, I happened to be made the class monitor. Now, as monitor, it was my job to write down the names of the students making noise on the chalkboard. I did this with obvious glee and made a lot of enemies in the process. Some of them bear me a grudge even after twenty five years! As the monitor, it was also my job to write down the date on the chalkboard and to keep it clean for the next teacher. I loved this job and guess this is where a lifelong love or the chalkboard developed.
When I reached the senior school, I no longer remained the class monitor. In fact, I had become a prominent member of the back benchers and was one of the most ill disciplined boys in the class. During this phase, I had a healthy aversion to the chalkboard because I spent most of my time in detention writing an assignment on it time and again. Like the Bart Simpson cartoon, I could always be found slaving away on the chalkboard.
So while I dont really mourn the passing of the older values of education or even the loss of innocence in todays youngsters, I do miss the chalkboard. It holds several fond memories for me.
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