The 4th flagship conference - Reflections, which aimed at bridging the gap between parents and children as well as teachers and children was organised at XlRI by Samarthya, the youth wing of the students of XlRI, to help students realise their full potential by focussing on social and emotional learning.
The conference revolved around the theme of
‘let’s Talk’ and included sub themes of ‘Once Upon A Time’, ‘Relationships’ and ‘Cyber Safety’.
Ratna Sinha, chief HRM, Tata Metaliks limited, Dr Sanjay Agarwal, head of psychiatry department at TMH, Rajani Shekhar, principal, DBMS English School, Chandan Jha, IPS and faculty coordinator, Prof Irudayaraj.
Focussed group discussion, team building activities and a cyber security simulation game were on the platter for the day. To jump-start the flow of communication, all the groups consisted of both adults and children and were randomised. The team activities were designed to be simple, fun and interactive team and relationship building activities.
The Cyber Security Simulation game was an interactive online game educating the students and their parents about the way to safeguard one from online dangers by making well thought out and informed decisions.
A student said, “At first it felt bad that they separated us from our friends but learning to interact with unknown people was a unique experience.” Another said, “Watching people of my parents age so sportingly engage in activities and behave like children was fun to watch and made me feel like talking with my parents more.” A parent spoke about realising the need for more quality engaging time with her children as opposed to just the normal everyday conversations. A teacher quipped, “It was just the right mix of fun and learning.”
Subsequently, Dr Agarwal summed up the proceedings of the various sessions in a delightfully entertaining manner using examples ranging from philosophy to pop culture to drive home his point.