Students are the repository of all that is vital and vigorous in society. They are the vital forces in the social organism. If the students do not come upto our expectations simply because they are led astray and their vigor is drained away, the radiance of our hopes is likely to be dimmed. It is essential, therefore, that students should realize this and make full preparations for playing their proper role in society and answering the call of the time to come.
Duties of students:
This leads us to the consideration of the duties which the students should discharge in order to become good citizens of tomorrow. When we talk of duties, the terms ‘rights’ naturally occurs to us. The students of today, unfortunately, are conscious of only their rights. It is good that they should have a consciousness of these too, for they are the basic conditions of freedom. But, what is more important to understand is the fact that rights do not stand by themselves. They grow out of duties.
Hence the need is to be more conscious about duties than about rights. Duties of students can be divided into four categories: (1) Duties to themselves, (2) Duties to the family, (3) Duties to the society and the (4) Duties to the humanity.
Duties towards themselves:
The first duty of students is towards themselves. They should try to have good health, for a sound mind lives in a sound body. One cannot do anything great without good health, however much one wants to do so. For this purpose they should take part in games and sports. They should be guided by the maxim “Read while you read and play while you play.” The second duty which they owe to themselves is character formation. Building up of good habits in the beginning is very necessary. The good habits that are formed in the student life last throughout. And character is nothing but a bundle of habits.
‘Simple living and high thinking1 must be the motto of their lives. They should develop decency, good manners and