I always wondered how the current generation of children will shape up. They have loads of information in front of them, but are they able to assimilate them all? They don’t play outside. The maximum workout they have is for their fingers when they play computer games. My childhood days were different. When I come back from school at 4.30, I usually play for three to four hours outside till we are blinded by the darkness. And they were not sophisticated games. Some days, it was gilli danda; some days it was kabaddi, some days it was volleyball (with a plastic ball) and most of the days it was cricket that occupied my evenings. And my parents didn’t say anything about me playing outside. One more thing to note here is that we didn’t have home works those days. Those were reserved for kids studying in convents. For students studying in government schools, we hardly had anything either during the school time or after that. So we were free to do anything and everything we wanted. When I think of my childhood, it was free of TVs, movies, Shopping or even video games. It was mostly physical games and sometime chess and carom. Look at today’s generation. They have everything, yet if you think of it, they don’t have anything. First of all, they have bad memory. Before the cell phone days, I used to remember, almost all of my friends’ and family’s landline numbers by heart. But now, that is fading away. Today’s kids almost spend their entire day in front of TV. They watch what the adults watch, they speak what adults speak. Yet we are oblivion to everything. They know everything by 10, 11 which I didn’t know even when I was 17, 18. We pat ourselves on our backs if our kid is singing a song from the recent movie. Another worrying trend is the advent of realty shows for kids. Some of the shows I watch are simply outrageous. Some loser might come in as a judge and give comments to the kid that are so insensitive to say the least. I am not a psychiatrist to assess the effect these comments have on the kids when they grow up. But I can assure you that they are not going to be good. This is where playing outdoor games come in handy. They tell you how to lose and still be happy about it. The worrying part still is that the parents seem to relish that and push their kids to do things which they wouldn’t have done even in their dreams. The advent of internet also has cast a spell on today’s kids. The other day, my niece who is all of nine years old, sent me a friend request in facebook. I immediately called my sister and scolded her for being so careless. The parents should at least know what their kids are doing infront of their computers. It doesn’t mean that we should watch them over their shoulders, but at least the kid should know what they are supposed to be doing. My neighbors have two children (girls) aged 12 and 9 respectively. They were at my home recently and watching hindi songs on TV. They knew most of the songs by heart and sang the songs as they were played in the TV. Not sure if they had the same interest towards studies. My only worry about today’s children is their ability to assimilate information and apply them . Its one thing to have information infront of you and another to apply them. That’s where the worry is. Some of the worries about today’s generation are –
Are they physically and mentally fit?
Is our education system keeping pace with the changing times?
How will the kid react if they are faced with a dire situation?
Not sure I know the answers yet, but I will once this generation grows up. Till then I will have to keep my fingers crossed.
