Changes in human life are natural according to the changing conditions. But today the changes that are being seen in the lives of children under the pressure of the market are a cause of many concerns. The market has made so many arrangements for the children that their effect is visible on their upbringing, food, education, sports, thinking and understanding. Sorry Sharma is telling about this changing world of children.
The world of elders has changed. Along with them, the world of children has also changed a lot. Maybe fifteen years ago. One evening while returning from office, I saw a small child going with his parents. Wanted to talk to him. Stopped and asked the child – Aul, how are you? Suddenly the child’s nostrils swelled. He looked into his eyes. Then said- Auntie, not aul, and. She was astonished to hear him. He wanted the right language. After all, from where would he have learned to always speak right in this childhood.
Obviously, from the parents and their own family environment. That is, he had to speak correctly. If he spoke wrong, he would have been corrected. Where would his innocence be lost in the affair of speaking the right language, his childhood would be taken away, why no one was worried about it. In fact, he had to speak for the rest of his life, even if he had spoken something lithe in childhood, then there was not going to be any difference in his life. But what to say about the pressure, who wanted to see him right all the time.
I remembered the lines of Tulsi – the child who does the totari baata… In today’s era, from where will we wear peonies, when the boy who wears them will be called a girl and not a boy. How to tell where the Vatsalya of Sur will get lost in the process of correcting it. By the way, you must have also seen such children, who get scolded for speaking with a spoon. Spoon is called speaking. There is applause for saying apple to apple. Keep saying that the development of children can be best in the mother tongue only. Whatever the child learns in the womb, it is in the mother tongue itself. But the dominance of English is so much that there is no value of mother tongues in front of it. And if the mother tongue is Hindi, then it is doomed to be beaten not only by English but also by other Indian languages.
The child I met fifteen years ago will now be crossing the threshold of adolescence. When he had asked to speak right, at that time even the attack of technology on the children was not so much. Today, the mobile is given in the hands of the children in the cradle itself. Was watching a video of an eight-month-old baby, where her fingers were moving like an expert on a mobile. Parents were telling it like some pride.
Mobile has become a window to see the world. Even though experts keep saying that it is dangerous, it takes away the childhood of the child. Parents who used to keep their children away from mobile or computer, also had to give it in the hands of children during the time of Corona. Many parents also complained that now that online classes cannot be done without mobiles or laptops, how can they keep an eye on the children to see what they are watching.
After all, they too have a lot of work to do. The attack of technology is so fast that no one has been able to escape from it. Those who believe in technology as God have forgotten that it is forbidden everywhere. We may be happy to see small children becoming ‘techno savvy’, but we know that due to TV, computer, mobile, not only adults but also children’s ‘screen time’ is continuously increasing. This is not only increasing the problems of eyes, but also increasing irritability, stress, blood pressure, diseases of joints and shoulders in children.
A few years ago there was news about a four-year-old boy who had very high blood pressure. Type 1 diabetes in children is also increasing. The reason for this is said to be that the physical activity of children is continuously decreasing. They are spending more and more time sitting in front of mobile or computer. Apart from this, they are using junk food a lot. Eating hundreds of times more calories than you need has become a daily thing. Good food means market food.
Governments make laws from time to time that junk food should not be available near children’s schools, in school canteens. They should insist on eating more and more nutritious food. But this doesn’t happen. The reason for this is said to be that junk food is sold in such an attractive way, there is so much attractive marketing that it easily attracts children. Not only this, often the models to sell them are also children. This food is also associated with the success of children, doing well in examinations and sports. Whereas more fat, more sugar and more salt are used in these foods. Which are very harmful for health.
changing eating habits
Decades ago, canned food companies in Britain were warned against luring children. Otherwise they will be banned. But such efforts are rarely seen here. These days all kinds of soft drinks are very popular among children, the variety of sherbet, thandai, buttermilk found here, leave the city, have disappeared from the villages too. Ask a child, he or she will hardly be ready to drink these traditional drinks. Because all the food items available in the market have also been linked to status. Parents also consider it good that if the child has to get any work done, then he should be tempted with some burger, chocolate, noodles, momos. Because they are easily available in the market, there is no hassle of making them.
Once famous actress Shilpa Shetty said that her child has not eaten chocolate till date. If he wants to get something done, he is tempted to eat jaggery and it is given to him when the work is done. It is interesting to see that celebrities who sell all kinds of junk food keep their kids away from it. The things they advertise are often told about the percentage of sales they generate, that is, the number of buyers they get. If children from outside fall ill after eating them, then keep falling, our children should be fine.
In this context, the days when children grew up in joint families are remembered. The child of the house was everyone’s responsibility. From his oil massage to his food, he was handed over to the elders of the house. As soon as the child was born, the conversation started with him. If the grandmother is applying oil, some are swinging the cradle, then the conversation, if someone is rolling on the shoulder then the conversation. The answers to all the questions and curiosities of the children are also at hand.
By this the children learned to speak, the sense of collectiveness was strengthened, they never felt the lack of emotional attachment. The disintegration of the joint family made not only the elders but also the children alone. A few days ago, a survey was told that during the days of examination, the stress level of children who lived in nuclear families was very high, while the stress level was not found in children living in joint families. Received very little.
On one hand it is argued that children should not be restrained for anything, should not be denied. For their development, it is necessary that the child is also considered as a unit. Blocking has a negative effect on him. But if we don’t stop the children from doing something wrong, what they should not do, what they should not do, they will not be allowed to do everything on their own, then what about those children.
After all, in classes, children are told what to do and what not to do, what to read, how much to read, how to read, how to write, why it is important to write well, cleanly, respect others, do not discriminate against anyone, etc. It is told, but there are many external pressures which say that do not say anything to the child. Those who raise children, teach, teach them to play, encourage them to participate in all the activities of the school, they know that children have to be taught to differentiate between right and wrong every moment. If not taught, they can neither do well in studies, nor can they learn sports, nor can they be aware of their health.
It is true that the world has changed very rapidly. is changing. How can children survive this change? But it is to be thought that this change should not make them alone. Don’t take away their emotional strength. It is better not to impose your dreams on them. We couldn’t do what we wanted to do, so why expect children to do what we wanted to do, be what we wanted to be. Instead of being frightened by the child’s questions, find answers to his questions. Don’t decide for yourself what children want to do or study. They should also get the opportunity of election. Yes, examples of stories and incidents can help them identify good and bad. Children learn more quickly from the characters of a story than from preaching.