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Friday 17 February 2012

Have the kids lost their childhood?


I don't see any kid jumping over the compound walls, playing running and catching, hide and seek, lock and key or any likes these days. I don't see them running from the neighbor’s house after stealing mangoes, drinking tap water (I survived on them when I was a kid) they don't climb trees, do they?  Not in my locality. We used to race in our bicycles (Ah! Such bliss were those days), these days the kids do race in their bicycles, but to reach their tuition classes and that when in Class 1. Come on!

And whenever I see a kid they carry a big bag, big enough to create a hunch as they grow up coz they bend so much due to the weight. They are either stuck to the frigging television or the stupid PSP. When I ask a 6 year old kid what he does during his free time. He lines up a bunch of classes he attends and I start feeling sick.  I think the parents of our generation are getting over protective don't play in the sand, don't eat roadside food, like you never ate when you were a kid! Carry a sanitizer with you. Duh! 4 years back we didn't even know such a thing existed; they were a thing at hospital used by doctors. I used to have so many wound marks on my knees and arms. I used to be very proud of them and my parents they never cared about it, they don't panic like I had broken my limb if I had a little scratch. When I see my relatives now, even if the kid is about to fall they are going through a stress attack, really! I am not exaggerating. Few kids are really huge, they are obese. Don't tell me its puppy fat for God's sake! The parents buy them all the junk foods to keep them shut and they gain weight because there is no way they are burning that fat they gain, you push them into some abacus class or music class where they sit and sit and sit. 

Before making further accusations, (I felt that will be the right word) I am not a very old lady complaining about the parenthood of this generation. But I really find it so funny! Why are we being so cruel with those little ones? Don’t force your so-called luxury and disciplined lifestyle(bwahaha) into that kid. Can’t you see they are suffocating!

Please know that you are responsible for your kid losing his/her childhood. When he/she grows up to be an adult they will have no childhood memories, what do you expect them to say? When I was 5 years old I would come back from school and get ready ASAP to go to the tuitions, after tuitions I come back home and finish my homeworks by the time I would be very tired so I would go to sleep. Over the weekends, I had a bunch of other classes to attend abacus training, vocal, violin, swimming, roller skating and then I would go to the beach but will not play in the water because it used to be extremely dirty contagious you see, so I just watch others play and come back.  I read lots and lots of books that I started hating even the story books. How exciting does that sound? But this is how your kids will answer.

I am not saying that they shouldn't go to classes or not read books or not study at all but come on! don't take their childhood away from them by laying stupid protocols like when you go to beach ,"don't go to the water, stay within the mat" why at all take them to a beach then? Lay a mat at home and have fun! All you want is to sit in the mat. Please don’t introduce them to the computer. Say a BIG no to mobile phone usage and playing PSP (Pah! I hate that thing!). Over the weekends ask your kids to get out of the house at around 3.30 PM and tell them that you will not let them in until it's 6 PM. Let them socialize! Teach them the games you played when you were a kid not the indoor games or the games like scrabble, chess, word building and carom that would improve their IQ and logical thinking. You can please have that for the latter part of their life. Teach them the crazy games like running and catching, hitting the ball, hide and seek, blindfold. I think a kid is more cute only if he is dirty and if he plays in the mud, eats the Rs.5 ice cream and the roadside paani poori (yum!) let them go crazy, talk to them a lot about the crazy things you did in life and inspire them, let the neighbors complain about them don’t care and just say, ‘What would you expect from a kid?’ And if you hadn't done anything crazy please give them an opportunity to tell their kids about the crazy things they did as a child. Let them catch up fever, cold it’s OK they are not dreadful diseases, trust me, they will get immune. 

Don't take away their childhood from them. Stop burdening them. I know this is a competitive world but don't kill the beautiful phase of their life, "childhood". 

Afterall, tomorrow is just a myth! Let them go crazy, they should know how to "live" life!

10 comments:

  1. Pretty strong post! I think children are suffering from what I call over-expectation from parents. Every parent is ought to make his kid a genius. Add to it the talent shows,dance shows etc you can in general get a sense of what kids have to live with.
    I was with this colleague of mine whom I was pushing for dancing. She told me that it would be here daughter who would do the dancing..not her. And I am like...u should do it first..then only u ll understand what a kid goes through

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  2. i was about to make a post, but you portrayed the points strongly...
    well said.
    Expectations is the mother of all problems...
    -

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  3. i was about to make a post, but you portrayed the points strongly...
    well said.
    Expectations is the mother of all problems...
    -

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  4. I agree! Everything that you have mentioned are literally happening around us and may be around our nation too. Kids are very paavam nowadays. they dono anything other than books, computer, school, tuition. they are grown up as a educated idiots and parent are happy with the way their kids are being brought up... Now, not to leave IT folks. they work in office, they carry it to home and work from home... funny thing is they even work on phone when travelling to office... Living has been restricted much due to the invention of many technologies, only coz we didnt know how to balance life with it...

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  5. :D lovely... I recalled a lot of things when I was a kid...

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  6. and forgot to mention. As I was reading this, I did travel to my childhood!!! ;)

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  7. @Neo - Thanks! You cousin reminded me of a chapter from "The Greatness Guide" by Robin Sharma... he says, "You say your kids not to watch MTV and then you watch it for 3 hours, they will not respect you." :) That's what happens these days though! Sad.. :)

    @Dee - Thank you! I am sure yours would have been extremely humorous! :D

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  8. @Dev - I completely agree that we don't know to balance life..! :) Good to know I reminded you of your childhood! :)

    @Kerry - I am sure you were a brat when you were a kid! I pity your parents.. :P

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  9. A very though provoking post. The very meaning of childhood has a different definition now. There was a time when we used to have screenless days at home.

    I wonder why I didn't find your blog earlier. Just discovering Indiblogger and am glad I found you there.

    cheers,
    Kajal

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  10. @Kajal - Hey!
    I am happy that you are impressed with my blogs! (If I can say so ;)) and that's OK better late than never, you finally found me! :)

    Thank you for dropping a comment!Very Kind of you!

    And yea! I do pity the kids of these days, but I will definitely make sure that my kids stay raw.. ;)

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So, what do you think? :)