As a father of two small children, one of my top most priorities right now is to shape them well into refined, cultured, motivated & bright human beings. Perhaps, most parents do the same, I am no exception.
My concern lies in the way children, particularly college going ones who are gradually 'graduating' themselves into bad citizens. I would mostly blame parents for this decline.
A few months ago, I was reading an article in a magazine, in which the author asserted why the good old red eyed father of the 60's & 70's was indeed the perfect father, whose very voice would send chills in children. I have known of people who used to even fear to see eye to eye with their father.
He used to reprimand children & sometimes also beat them up for breach of discipline (not that I support physical punishment)... you may perhaps relate to my statements if you watch a few old movies. But as time has progressed, parents have become liberal. Life has become busier than the 60's, 70's & 80's, cost of living has spiralled & we have to work harder to meet our ends & also to pay our childrens' education fee, which has only meant that we devote lesser & lesser time towards our kids & their upbringing.
In urban India, single income does not suffice to run a family... the cost of rations & household items increases every month at least by 5-10%. An idli in a decent hotel in Bangalore costs Rs.10. School fees have long ago turned into 5 & 6 figures (running a school has become a risk free business to profiteer) & our Netas & governments do nothing to control fees & donations, simply because most schools are run by them or their relatives.
In such a situstion, the kid is mostly left to fend for himself. In their formative years, peer pressure & social influences can lead them into destructive habits like drugs, smoking, drinking, prolific usage of un parliamentary language, watching porn, gambling... the list goes on. The Delhi rape incident in which juveniles were involved is a testimony to my submission in this blog. Agreed that these boys came from slums, but children from middle & rich classes are no better.
I also read that drug addiction among youth & college going students is very high in Punjab & several other metros of India. What more can be a proof that bad parenting is one of the root causes of this evil.
Therefore, I feel that parents need to spend a lot of quality time with children & devote their energy to inculcate good social values, mannerisms & behavioural traits, 3 key things which can mould children into good citizens. Being harsh with children when they commit mistake is ok, because if "parents don't council children at home, someone else will on the street" at a later date. After all, there is an ancient saying- "what you havent learnt at 5, you cannot learn at 50".
So friends, the purpose of my blog is to not give lessons on parenting (who am I to do so). Its only a humble appeal to all parents to take control of their children before they lose them for bad things & regret later.
This is not a blanket statement that all children are bad & that all parents are not indulging in good parenting, but an indication of the trend in our society.
We need an India with a society free from crime, hate & corruption, for which good parenting is the foundation stone.
Life is a strange circle- as kids, parents have to be very strict with them, as a juvenile, parents should be more of a friend with children & when children stand on their feet & have a family of their own, perhaps, the cycle reinvents itself...
Thanks for reading...
