A stone that lies there without significance until it is hit by the sculptor's chisel is transformed into a statue after a certain time and process. Turning a stone into a statue means that it acquires the light of faith and divinity. The artist has invested a lot of skill, effort, and precious time to make a stone into a statue. Similarly, the effort and dedication of many people, including parents, relatives, society, school, teachers, and others, play an important role in building the future of our children. While saying this, it is certainly not an attempt to compare children to a stone and try to ignore their infinite potential and give more importance to the role of other related people. This is also reflected in various environments and behaviors. The behavior we parents and teachers have with children raises the question, 'Are we not trying to turn children into stones?'. Remember, children are not passive stones, but active souls, consciousness.

This is a metaphor, a comparison. What is meant is that like the transformation that occurs in a stone, children must be made to experience many ups and downs of life to transform them into good people. They must face many obstacles and follow the path shown by their parents, teachers and other guardians, listen to their advice, and obey them.

Yes, we cannot deny this truth, but another aspect that must not be forgotten is that the mentality and psychosocial condition are more important than the surrounding environment and the person in building their future. Childhood and student life are the most sensitive and complete stages of human life. This is the time when a person's thinking, character, values ​​and future direction are decided. Therefore, teachers, parents and themselves play an important role in building the surrounding environment for the bright future of children. They themselves are the ones who walk on the path shown by teachers and guardians. Formal education is one means of facilitating this.

Education is not just a process of transferring knowledge – it is the basis for the development of values, a means of developing a personality with humanity . Education should make our children able to understand human feelings . Our children should learn the diversity of life, human nature, the value of hard work and confidence, as well as the practical aspects of life through school education . Overall, the expectation of common parents is that education should become the basis for the development of life-useful skills .

That is why expectations from formal education are high today . And, the context and questions that are being raised to make education useful for life . The discussion of the history and importance of education is not necessary here because human development without formal education is no longer a matter of our imagination . We are all clear – school education should be a process of making human beings human with humanity . The fact that various questions arise in our education system is the result of various expectations associated with this .

Educationist Lev Vygotsky has put forward the concept of the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ in relation to the ease of learning and learning. This theory was believed to be helpful in enhancing effective learning and creative cooperation in children. The basic essence of this theory is that a child can achieve more than expected if he gets help. Vygotsky said that students can easily learn many challenging and seemingly impossible tasks with the help of their parents, teachers and friends. Therefore, the role of parents and teachers needs to focus on how to make their abilities qualitative.

We, teachers and parents, must understand that the environment given to children, our behavior and the words we speak have a profound impact on their brain and personality. That is why we need to be sensitive in every aspect of our behavior. It is important to link the environment, speech, and behavior we give to our children with the question of what our role is in developing the qualities and abilities we expect from them.

Let us, as parents, reflect on this – our supervision is necessary for children, but not unnecessary gossip. Guidance is necessary, but not pressure. However, in reality, there seems to be less attention paid to what the role of teachers and parents should be in achieving the expected achievements. A teacher's responsibility is not fulfilled by completing their lesson plans within the prescribed time limit, checking homework, and achieving good results in the subjects they teach. Instead, teachers have to reach the innermost thoughts of the students, their backgrounds, their personal life experiences, and their clear goals in life. They have to be able to become their friends, a good parent, and an ideal personality.

Similarly, it would be wrong for parents to understand that their responsibility as parents has been fulfilled by sending their children to school with their bags, paying their monthly fees, or buying them whatever they ask for. Even if their children are not kept in the hostel, they should create an environment where teachers and parents can sit down and talk about their behavior, manners, friends, speech style, behavior they show when they go home for long holidays, etc. Giving children the message that ‘my parents are very busy’ seems very dangerous. What is more serious is that they tell their children that they should not do anything, but they do the same thing! For example, they tell them ‘don’t use mobile phones’, while they are only hanging on the same mobile phone, they tell them ‘smoking and alcohol habits are not good’ and they themselves adopt the same habits. Also, in the name of explaining them, they only use harsh words, and keep comparing ‘so-and-so’s children like this’. The habit of repeatedly telling yourself that you shouldn't lie is very dangerous.

Let us parents reflect on this – our supervision is necessary for children, but not unnecessary gossip. Guidance is necessary, but not pressure. Discipline is necessary, but not excessive bondage. It is necessary to introduce inspiring personalities, but not comparisons with anyone in a derogatory manner.

It is also necessary for student parents to self-evaluate their responsibilities and abilities. Your childhood and school life are very valuable. You should not give it less importance or waste this precious moment by giving in to someone's whims. If you indulge in addiction, misuse your time, become a victim of bad company and bad habits at this time, which is the foundation of building your life, then life itself becomes dark and meaningless. Therefore, let us establish good habits on time, choose good company, continue to build good character, cherish the life philosophy and values ​​​​created by our ancestors, and keep a positive mindset. Habits like giving space to negative thoughts in the mind will never lead us to the dreams of life.

Yes, a student is full of incredible power, a conscious possibility that can think for himself and change. Let us recognize the consciousness and unlimited potential within ourselves at the right time and move forward on the right path. Let us get out of the illusion that someone will create our future. We have to find our own areas of competence and interest. We have to build our own future. For that, let us make the right use of time, understand the country, time, situation, listen to others and continuously move towards our goals.

Life is a journey to achieve goals. Therefore, let us all be responsible. Let us not remain rigid like stones in the name of discipline and rules, but rather try to be gentle, fragrant, loving and charming like flowers. A responsible society and responsible schools, loving and inspiring parents, empathetic teachers, and disciplined students are the foundation of building an individual, family, society, and nation. Every stone has the potential to become a statue, and every human being has the potential to become a great human being. However, students are not stones, they are the fragrance of the possibility of transforming every stone into a statue.