The summer has started. Many parents are beginning to worry about how they should keep their children engaged ‘productively’ during this summer break especially after the COVID-19 hibernation. Many rounds of discussion with neighbours and well-wishers are on. There are a good number of advertisements in the dailies and scrolls on TV offering “package summer programmes” with discounts on early registrations.
It can be wonderful to start the day with swimming classes and then move on to drawing or craft until noon. After lunch, an autorickshaw has to be arranged to take the child to a centre where an intensive training in communication skills or Java is offered. After all this, the child is tired enough to come back for rest. But then, an appointment with a tennis coach in the local stadium has to be kept. He is coached on court to learn “how to be alert” in life. And when he returns home he is thoroughly exhausted!
It is so unfortunate that we do not want to take the risk of letting our children live the way they like, at least for a short period during the vacation. We miss the fun in watching them learn to entertain themselves by exploring the world on their own. The innocence of the childhood is crushed so early that children appear to mature so early. There are things which the little ones have to do only to enjoy the spirit of doing during their early time. It could be shouting or fighting or breaking things or throwing a TV remote or getting muddy and dirty.
There is another trend which goes unnoticed these days. Every child is studied as “an object”. Normally on the closing day of school every year, parents seek appointments with teachers to enquire about the “worthiness” of their wards. The technology-assisted evaluation process done in some of the private schools does not seem to leave anything untouched. The ill-informed student counsellors, in the name of giving guidance, divulge some details about the children’s mischievous behaviour in the class, which leads the parents to look for psychologists or psychiatrists for more information. This process is very long and complicated, keeping the domestic discourse on child behaviour heavily charged.
Is this the best way of educating our kids? Are we ignorant or knowledgeable? Does this interference contribute to the well-being of our children or stunt their growth ? Are we more interested in knowing what they do not know than what they know?
Let us be more sensitive to the needs of the child. Let us participate in the growth of our children through engagement but not through interference. The engagement will enrich them but interference will disturb their growth in the long run. What is wrong if they are left to be free at home? What is wrong if they cause a little bit of disturbance to us during our busy schedule? Is it not a way to let off their negative energy? Any attempt to suppress them at this tender age will have some serious effects on their psyche, for which we, as parents, will regret later.
Hence, it is better not to become too anxious about their future. It is wise not to expect too much from them. It is advisable not to put our conditions of success on them. It is beautiful to see and enjoy how they grow, how they react, how they play, how they fight, how they love, how they regret and how they learn. If we don’t have that much patience, then we are in a hurry to bury their individuality and creativity.
sat.ansari@yahoo.com
