Encourage children by seeing positives in them, counselled Mrs. Y.G. Parthasarathy, veteran educationist and founder of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, here on Saturday.
Releasing ‘Parent circle', an exclusive magazine launched to help parents take informed decisions for their children, she lamented that when a child tells her parents she has scored 98 per cent, the first question is, “Who has scored centum?” This was quite unfortunate. “Give the child unconditional love. Learn to appreciate. Pat the child for her achievement and raise her self-esteem and self-confidence.”
She also pleaded for “recognising the innate quality of the child.” The credibility of both the parents and also teachers could be established only by “practising” and “not mere preaching.”
According to her, three features are most important in parent-student-teacher relationship. They are accountability, integrity and responsibility.
While expressing happiness that corporal punishment has been banned once and for all, she cautioned against harming children mentally. She urged parents to co-operate with the teaching community. “There should be a bonding.” Schools were now struggling to maintain their standards, she pointed out.
Mrs. Parthasarathy, who cited the example of the Dutch institutions wherein the parents were taught parenting after 6 p.m. at schools, said “this could be used in our schools so that we can share their (parents and children's) problems.”
Meena Muthiah, founder, Chettinad Vidyashram, presiding, lamented that for the sake of prosperity and personal freedom, it was the children who got neglected. Parenting could not stop with any particular age and its goal should be to develop personality. Parents and elders should become role models.
P.R. Ramasubrahmanya Rajha, chairman of the Ramco group of industries, welcoming the gathering, explained how the concept of parenting had evolved over the years, especially with nuclear families becoming the norm of the day. While peer pressure and value system had an indelible impact, the children of the current generation, exposed to a wide spectrum of information, looked for “reason and logic” in everything. Hence it had become imperative to “reinvent” parenting skills.
M.V. Muthuramalingam, founder, Velammal group of educational institutions, said parents played a vital role in the evolution of the child. But, unfortunately, most of the parents did not have time even to attend the parent-teachers' meeting which was meant for creating some awareness among the parents. He wanted the parents to get their children prepared for a “peaceful and happy married life.”
Main motto
Nalina Ramalakshmi, publisher and editor-in-chief of the magazine, said the main motto of the publication is, “Know your children, their strengths and weaknesses and give them the necessary support to connect and communicate effectively.” The aim should be all-round development of children.
