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Growing up, Jack & Jill was one of my favorite childhood poems. I would hum it all the way to my home while returning back from school, one of the most hindered and old memories of my life. However, children from this particular school may be humming the same tune, but the lyrics might be a little different.
A picture which is now going viral on social media, uploaded by famous satirist Nadeem F. Paracha, has sent Pakistanis into a trip of fits as a school in Rawalpindi has done the unthinkable.
Outside a children’s elementary school in Rawalpindi, hangs a huge poster of the Jack & Jill nursery rhyme. This is what the lyrics and words of one of the greatest ever childhood poem’s reads:
“Jack & Jill went up the hill. Jack burned out on booze and pills. Marry had a little lamb and pills. Marry had a little lamb, but Marry doesn’t give a damn anymore.”
No, we are not making this up and the picture definitely is not photoshopped. The school is located near the Adyala Press Club in Rawalpindi, just next to Pakistan’s capital city Islamabad. While the occasion might seem extremely hilarious and downright cracking, there is more to this poster than what meets the eye.
This one off picture just proves the conditions Pakistani schools are in, be it private or government. The education system of Pakistan is deeply flawed in many ways, but when people open schools for business, instead of teaching children and contributing to the society, the results are in front of your eyes.
In the poster, the school is promoting alcohol, drugs and adultery as well. Words such as booze, pills and Marry’s infinite attitude of ‘not giving a damn anymore’ showcases that the school administration either itself does not understand English, or is on a new level of post-modernism.
Also, this is not the first time that something like this has taken place in Pakistan. When it comes to the curriculum, many private schools have been using books that promote adultery and messages that can be detrimental to a young child’s mind. If some day, students of this particular school understood what the words on this poster mean, what sort of an impact would it put on their lives? Would they think that their school promotes drugs and alcohol? Or would they let it pass as a mistake? You be the judge.
Rawalpindi’s education department needs to take notice of this incident and make sure either the school’s license is cancelled for such immense negligence or they are fined with a warning. As for us Millennials, the Jack & Jill part of our childhood is certainly ruined.
