The Commercialization of Childhood

Every day we hear about some child protégé, who had done something extraordinary at their young age. But does anyone think of the mental conflicts these kids are going through? Every Human being is supposed to do different kinds of activities at different ages. The kids are actually designed to function like that from their very birth. An under growth or an overgrowth is equally bad at the end, whether it is at the physical or at the mental level .I think the children who are born to teachers  suffer the most. They are not actually taught to live their own life, but to compete with their peer groups. There is an observation that children born to inter-caste parents (or born in an inter-caste marriage) are always more intelligent than others .I don’t know whether it is a biologically proven fact. Nowadays there are a lot of prime time reality shows, which are meant to exhibit the talents of kids. The Judges’ may appear friendly towards the contestants. But that is not the problem. The Psychoanalytical theory by Sigmund Freud and its extension by Eyrsenck clearly define the mental attitudes of men at different ages even though they give more emphasis at its sexual perspective. The Kids are not actually supposed to afford so much pressure that these "reality" shows offer them.

In Japan, Children does not have to face exams till the age of 10.They give more importance to the moral values. These kids are taught how to thrive socially and how to behave gentle towards the other fellow beings. But that is not the case in our country. At the international level, our country is represented by the slums she possesses. But no one tries to mention the Indian kids who wins Spelling-Bee competitions in United States of America. When comes to the moral side, our state is characterised by the corruption& dirty politics of its executive and by its disrespect towards women. We’ve a good position among the International countries when the no. of criminal offences are considered. Think of a fact that not a single university from India is rated among the top 50 universities in the world.(except the IITs which even recruits their pupils to the NASA).But a lot of people are involved when the number of crorepati's and people who have big deposits in the Swiss banks are considered.

This is the apt time to change our attitude .I am not arguing for religion. But teaching children spirituality and morality will be a great asset at a later stage, as Religion is one of the binding factors of a society. If the mental tragedies of a pregnant woman can adversely affect their child's mental development, we can just imagine how much those excess pressure at a tender age influence a child when he becomes an adult! The family problems among the modern Engineers and other busy employees are just because of the ignorance of social life. The Mechanical & Materialistic life is a waste. We always try to imitate the lifestyle of Westerners. The practice of adopting their outdated technologies like nuclear power projects is an example for this. Does any Indian parent want their child to be a social worker or a humanist? Doctor or Engineer becomes the last word for them. The Social, Intellectual & Spiritual ideas given by the parents at a tender age will have a great influence on a child when s/he becomes an adult.

Dear parents, please remember one thing. Children are not mere tools to expand the meaning of your names. The earlier culture has gone away. Now most people are of the opinion that if you have money, you can buy anything in the world. So they are just trying to investigate ways that can be used to mend money even if it is an illicit one! This is the great example of the phenomena that makes us slaves of capitalism. If you think that your child is an introvert, please don’t forget that some great personalities were also like that, when they were young. Even the great diplomat Jawaharlal Nehru who became an orator later, paid a lot of fines during the time of his University education at Cambridge, in order to rescue himself from the weekly speech competition held at the college premises. Once Sandra Kring told, "If you doubt your ability to make a life altering decision, to take on a daring aspiration, or to fend for yourself after many years, consider this: Surely, if a bird with healthy wings, is locked in a cage long enough, she will doubt her ability to fly". Please remember that this post is not a criticism. After all “Be the change you wish to see in the world” as Gandhiji once said.