I am perplexed to see the amount of screen time every child gets to enjoy these days. In hospitals, in restaurants, on trains, on busses, on balconies, on the terrace, in the hall, and even inside the room, it’s very rare to witness a child without a mobile. If they see screens everywhere, when are they going to look up, at the world around them? Today there is no home, around me at least, that has no audio and video system with speakers playing rhymes for the children most of the time. The child eats, plays, and sleeps watching TV. Sometimes they tend to study only when the TV is on. Yes, with the changing generation, socialization is becoming difficult. As homes are turning to apartments everywhere, children are heading to live behind closed doors. Their only entertainment is becoming TV and mobile.

Instead of entertaining children by other means, parents put them at risk of the bigger crisis of entertainment through TV and mobiles. This leads to poor health and mental conditions.

Children develop vision problems and are forced to wear spectacles at a very early age. Children tend to become adamant and lack concentration. Their focus tends to shift to unreal things and lack experiences from the impactful real world. When they watch TV, it becomes their main focus and nothing else matters to them at that time. They tend to imbibe the characteristics of the cartoon characters they see onscreen, act accordingly, and slip away from originality. Whereas, in real, life is much different and dealt with differently. They start asking for TV and mobile for anything to everything they do. They seem to develop intolerance towards some delays in the playing of videos and any factors that ruin their screen time. When the crisis matures, parents put all their energy and time into tackling the consequences which is much more difficult to do. Research emphasizes various physical and mental health issues that excessive screen time can pose in children. In the first place, parents need to stop the usage of mobile in the presence of their children and let them know mobile is very advantageous and useful though, at the same time it has its own limitations and should be used only for necessity. Early development is a very sensitive, delicate, and important phase in every child’s life. What is shown to them and what they spend their most time in, becomes their reality. It is the duty of every parent to be very careful, sensible, and attentive to their child’s healthy development both physically and mentally.

Today presenting their children with all the new things available in the market and buying everything the child asks for has become a fancy for parents. When parents give in to their children's demands, they tend to eradicate from children, the virtue of knowing the value of things and money. Children think everything is easily accessible, fail to develop the virtue of putting genuine efforts and hard work into achieving something and turn unsympathetic towards others’ feelings. They tend to behave negatively when they don’t get everything they wish for. Parents must learn to say “no” to things that aren’t necessary for the child's development at any point in time.

Listening to songs in the home audio system with their child’s presence, resounding in the whole of the flats has also become a fancy for the parents today. They fail to understand that it is a snit to the rest of the people living around. Isn't it like training your child to be discourteous? The child would not understand the difference between entertainment and nuisance. They should learn to enjoy in such a way that their enjoyment does not pose any discomfort to other people.

Then there are those parents who force their children to study. In the late evenings, through the window, one can hear whacks and whacks. “Write three, put double,” says her mom. Weeping and voice wobbling, the little girl says, “I will write ma” Mom again, “What is 16+20? write Thirty-Six.” The reply, “Please ma, don't shout, I will write.” When the mother's tone softens for two minutes, you can never hope that it will last throughout the teaching section. She would shout at her daughter for even the tiniest mistake and say “I feel bad, you are such a fool, you don't know even this! You will not remember anything in the exam hall, write everything wrong, score badly, and bring shame to me” The girl's voice would rise, “I will write.” Whacks again! “How dare you are shouting, where from you learn this?” She had learned it a second ago from her mother herself. Will she weep? Or count what is 16+20? Or write as per her mother's instructions? Or understand what is happening with maths? Education should make one feel happy, active, efficient, motivated, accepted, and equally treated. Isn't? But today nothing is enough for educated parents. They expect their children to be experts and compare their intelligence with that of their children. We know in a moiety of seconds the answer for a combination of maths series, but how could we expect the 5-years-kid to do the same? Parents need patience. They need to be gentle. They project to the children that the world is so busy and stressful as they live. Yes, standards are rising. But, it is also true that every child has his/her unique talent and can get plenty of opportunities to display it. That would be unveiled only when we help the children to find out for themselves what works for them and what doesn’t.

Today with the rising level of quest for excellence, we are pressed to imagine our earth to be a doomed place in the near future, fully polluted, where oxygen should be bought for money and artificial intelligence taking over which are really scary to picturize.

Fair nurturing, is all about building a child's moral and morale values with the concern for nature and humanity. Instead of trying to keep children under control or living by all the desires of the children without a second thought or thinking you are superior to your children just because you are parents, be seekers and learners, for, you can learn ample of things from the younger generation. Be good friends to them. Be their helpers, well-wishers, motivators, and also be strict whenever necessary. Before putting huge efforts into teaching virtuous traits to the children, live the way you expect them to live and set an example, seeing which they would nurture themselves rightly.

.   .   .