Technology robbing children of their childhood
By: Vijay Garg
Children are forgetting to talk, play, jump and read after getting mobile, computers and laptops. It is not understood that how to take back the mobile which was caught in his hand during the Corona period?
Earlier, where children used to eagerly wait for the bell of their sports periods in schools, used to look forward to painting, drama, music competitions and all kinds of activities, now they are not interested in these activities but only in the screen of any electronic device.
On the one hand the children have such state-of-the-art techniques in their hands, and on the other hand, they have to be victims of various kinds of crimes continuously. These include sexual crimes, economic crimes and all kinds of cyber crimes.
In nuclear families, most of the parents are busy in their day-to-day work, because there is compulsion that if they do not work and have a job, then how will the house run, how will the children be brought up. That is why most of the children of such families are dependent on day care centers or helpers.
Absence of grandparents in homes made the children even more lonely What is it? After all, how can children talk to their parents who are busy day and night? Many times it happens that the child wants to say something, insists on something, then in order to listen to his problem, instead of solving it, he is coaxed with a chocolate or a toy, or scolded and silenced.
In most of the crimes against children, the same thing comes to the fore that they could not tell their parents about the crime in time. Many times children even commit suicide due to fear of criminals and parents keep on regretting.
The stress and quarrels of the parents also have a very bad effect on the children and they cannot get out of the bad memories of their childhood for the rest of their life. Experts say that parents should never fight in front of their children, but in families where parents separate, get divorced, children are more likely to be in trouble. They get caught in the middle of their parents’ fights.
While both the parents are needed for the proper development of the child, the problem is that each discourse appears to contradict the other. Those who work for children say that the family is necessary for their proper development. These days, the role of the family is repeatedly underlined in the condition of the elderly, but a stream of women’s discourse completely rejects the family.
This stream puts the blame of every problem of women on the head of the family. So how to solve the problems.
After all, there are girl children among the children and then why only about the girl child, there should be talk of the children as well. Human rights of a boy are no less than that of girls. All children should have the right to proper upbringing, proper food, care, education, entertainment, freedom of speech and expression.
Knowing the mother tongues can lead to proper development of the children, but the ground reality is different. Resourceful parents prefer English over the mother tongue for their children. One of the major reasons for this is that English has been linked to the success and bright future of children.
A woman working in a multinational company told that children studying through mother tongue are pushed aside at the time of job. The writers also said that they are not against any language. Not even English, but mother tongues should be given more priority.
Many researchers have proved that the child not only understands the language spoken by its family members in the womb itself, but also starts recognizing it by voice. The story of Abhimanyu is almost similar, but ever since the middle class has expanded in the country, since then the meaning of education has been accepted, made English as compared to mother tongues.
It is visible everywhere. One writer even said that he was forced to read his speech in English. Will children get good opportunities for jobs and other occupations if they study in mother tongues as well? How will they be able to tell their mind to their family members? How can their problem be solved instead of being ignored or scolded? How can they escape the violence? How will children be free from the problem of loneliness? Some suggest that if orphanages and old age homes are combined, the loneliness of children and the elderly will be reduced.
(The author is a retired Principal an an Educational Columnist)
