Human beings have a unique set of culture followed, in matters of giving respect to the elders and treating them. Standing up to wish is one such cultural honour given to the elders. In this regard, schools are one formal institutes, where standing up and wishing the teacher in a class have been strictly enforced upon. The student’s are expected to stand up to wish a teacher when he/she enters, sought to stand in case of raising a question, and also expected to stand up and seek permission if he /she has to use washroom.
The incidents like punishing children for not standing, regarding the child ill-mannered, and taking it as an offensive gesture to oneself are all common happenings in the schools. With passing of time, as children reach college, this particular practice is not encouraged in colleges.
In all these regard, the important matter of fact to be understood is the root of ‘standing culture’. The main intention was to teach the kids to stand when teacher enters is to instill in them the idea of respecting elders. But the human nature of enforcing brought in a practice of making a child seek permission for each and everything they do, to drink water, to go to pee, to pick up the fallen eraser and so on.
Respecting elders is highly regarded practice, indeed a finite gesture. Standing up to greet the eldest, and leaving the chair to the elders in the room, are practiced with highest of regard. At the same time, it has to be made sure that, the practice of culture shouldn’t restrict a kid from performing its personal activities and teachers should make sure to enlighten the kids with, why they are supposed to stand instead of forcing them to do so.