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Kids or Super kids?

May 14, 2010 By Krishna Leave a Comment

 

Television abounds in programmes with children – dance shows, music shows and even serials with children as protagonists. Watch a children’s reality dance show. The chances are that instead of impressing, one will feel disgusted with the adult expressions and obscene dance steps of the little children in the course of the show. When the results are announced, the tension on their faces is palpable and one feels for those children, who at such a tender age, have already entered the adult world leaving their childhood behind.

 

 

Who is to blame? Of course, the media which exhibit these shows in the name of promoting young talent and the audience which loves these shows and loves controversies in them even better. But the primary blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the parents. Eager to watch their children on television, eager to exhibit the talents (whether they exist or not) of their offspring, they push them too hard into singing, dancing or acting.
Pursuing these as hobbies is fine and to a certain extent necessary for the all round development of the child. But it is alarming to see the extent of expectations the parents have from their child. One even gets to see parents quarrel with the judges if their child loses out, setting a fine example indeed for their children. And the media shamelessly telecasts such appalling behavior, TRPs being the reason. The finer points of participating, competing fairly, putting in your best efforts and being graceful losers are lost. At a very young age, the child learns that winning is all that counts.

 

 
In the previous generation, parents laid great stress on the academic performance of the child. Other activities did not receive much encouragement. This built up undue pressure on the children to do well in school even if the subjects they were studying did not hold their interest at all. This state of affairs was bad enough, but today things are even worse. Doing well in your exams is of course a must. Other than this, the child should not only take part in several other activities be it drawing, swimming, chess or tennis but also should excel in all of them.

Parents keep comparing their child’s progress with that of the children of neighbours, friends and relatives and they feel that their kid falls short in some way. They feel that pointing out that other children are better may motivate their child to do well. But psychological studies indicate that this, far from motivating may irritate and create resentment in the child. Also, the reaction of the parents when the child fails to shine may make him feel that winning or achieving success is a pre-requisite for receiving love from the parents.
 
 

 

 

Ask any child today. He or she will be hopping from one class to another throughout the year. They lose out on the only time in their life when they can be carefree without burdens and worries. Most of the time, it is the parents who decide what activities the children should pursue.

 

One fails to fathom what the parents are trying to do. Are they trying to live their dreams through their children? Were they deprived of their parents’ encouragement and so do not want their kids to lose out on the facilities which they lacked? Are they too busy with their own careers to spend time with their children and assume that sending them to different classes will be a good substitute for their presence? Are they trying to mould their children into super kids, achievers since childhood, so what if they don’t get much of a childhood to speak of? Will the child’s fame and money earned by putting his talents to use, make up for his lost innocence? This surely is an issue worth pondering over.

 

Author: Pratibha Shenoy (Bangalore)

 

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