I happened to see a movie with a very beautiful girl who looked extremely familiar. A close scrutiny of her looks made me realize that she was the same little girl I had seen as a toddler on the big screen. I was aware that not many years had passed since I last saw her. I was equally aware that in these years my appearance never had any radical change, apart from the increased waistline. I grew at a systematic rate abiding with the laws of nature. This little girl had turned into a lady overnight. Suddenly the admiration of her looks changed into pity. Had she lost the most glorious period of life christened Childhood? Did she get to enjoy reading Enid Blyton, Sweet Valley’s and so on? Have secret crushes when she was a teenager? Attend slumber parties? And that made me ask a question to myself, for the sake of quick money and fame, are we killing the most beautiful trait in a child ‘Innocence’.
Why as the thinking populace, we enjoy watching shows where kids are eliminated every week? Why is their talent judged by the number of votes coming to them? Why do we make them enter the cruel world of competition, when their age is to develop harmony and collective living? I understand that a baby product requires a baby in its advertisement. Why do we need to use kids for products not even pertaining to their age? One ponders on the thought; could this quick growing of children be the reason for high rates of adolescent crimes? I stumbled on a quotation once ‘Children are one third of our population and all of our future’. It is our moral responsibility to nurture them, love them, teach them, cajole them and make them righteous. It will be extremely wrong on our part to expect a sapling give us fruits when it itself requires the love and care to grow into a tree.
Agreed limelight has its own pros and cons. Fame and fortune has improved the lives of many youngsters, for illustrations consider the case of the kids featured in Slumdog Millionaire. It’s a case of rags to riches. They have been enrolled in schools. Their entire education is being funded by the director and the producers of the movie and then a travel to Los Angles to attend Oscars. For them the real life is becoming like the reel life, such serendipitous success should not be the reason for the alarming increase of little girls visiting beauty salons and getting treatments done which can have adverse effects. It should not be the impetus for boys taking protein supplements from a very young age. In my opinion, will of parents cannot be forced on a child. Rather as a parent you should help your child grow as an individual, who is able to judge right and wrong. An individual who is able to decide what career road to select, after enacting roles of doctor, teacher, man in uniform etc in the games played in his/her childhood. Certainly not an individual whose, memories of childhood is just the urgency to grow up.
This article was published in the news paper daily The Hindu's metro plus Banglore edition on 17th March 2009.
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/03/17/stories/2009031750630400.htm
Why as the thinking populace, we enjoy watching shows where kids are eliminated every week? Why is their talent judged by the number of votes coming to them? Why do we make them enter the cruel world of competition, when their age is to develop harmony and collective living? I understand that a baby product requires a baby in its advertisement. Why do we need to use kids for products not even pertaining to their age? One ponders on the thought; could this quick growing of children be the reason for high rates of adolescent crimes? I stumbled on a quotation once ‘Children are one third of our population and all of our future’. It is our moral responsibility to nurture them, love them, teach them, cajole them and make them righteous. It will be extremely wrong on our part to expect a sapling give us fruits when it itself requires the love and care to grow into a tree.
Agreed limelight has its own pros and cons. Fame and fortune has improved the lives of many youngsters, for illustrations consider the case of the kids featured in Slumdog Millionaire. It’s a case of rags to riches. They have been enrolled in schools. Their entire education is being funded by the director and the producers of the movie and then a travel to Los Angles to attend Oscars. For them the real life is becoming like the reel life, such serendipitous success should not be the reason for the alarming increase of little girls visiting beauty salons and getting treatments done which can have adverse effects. It should not be the impetus for boys taking protein supplements from a very young age. In my opinion, will of parents cannot be forced on a child. Rather as a parent you should help your child grow as an individual, who is able to judge right and wrong. An individual who is able to decide what career road to select, after enacting roles of doctor, teacher, man in uniform etc in the games played in his/her childhood. Certainly not an individual whose, memories of childhood is just the urgency to grow up.
This article was published in the news paper daily The Hindu's metro plus Banglore edition on 17th March 2009.
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/03/17/stories/2009031750630400.htm
