In wake of the recent episode that took place at Mumbai where students of an elite school were exposed for penning down & sharing their age inappropriate thoughts on What’s app about the opposite gender .
The matter is nothing unusual but this particular episode came into the limelight cause firstly the parents (mothers) were influential and secondly they didn’t bother about the repercussions they would face . Exposing this issue I must say that it was worth as it has opened doors to discuss further and find solutions to such inappropriate thoughts by such young lads.
Let’s come to the crux of the situation where we can’t discount the fact that community has a major role to play in bringing up these young adults .
The kind of friend circle the parents move around with , the language they speak , the line of thoughts or discussions they have with their children is of utmost importance.
The extra classes/ tuition classes that the children attend , the peer group there , the after class activities etc requires monitoring .
The housing societies in which you harbour yourself also matters , the locality , the slums around where sale of intoxicating stuff is rampant in cities … think about it !
At school , the class four staff , security personals , coaches on the sports ground , outsourced activity vendors etc . fall into the category of school community who are regularly interacting with the learners , this is an area that needs attention too.
The domestic help , drivers, Cretch services etc also require close monitoring of their background and a police clearance should be a must cause they could be the indirect agents of planting thoughts into the developing minds in your absence.
In the housing societies , the watchmen , car wash boys , neighbourhood handymen ( carpenters, plumbers, home delivery boys etc.)all contribute towards the growth of your ward. They are all informal agents of learning and could take advantage of the curiosity that these young children harbour. The Gurgaon Arushi Talwar case is a classic example .
How can we keep away our children from screen time ? The websites that they are surfing, the unknown friends that they encounter online while playing online games like pubji & COD, ROBLOX etc could not only add to the language development & thinking process but could have a negative impact too. This adrenalin rush could land the child to a situation which could go out of control if not regularly monitored. This is a different community . Explore the ‘ Dark Web’ .
To conclude , we as parents dream of our children being enrolled in the best educational institution for holistic development but a word of caution would be to check the child’s engagement in his informal learning activities and engagements.
I hope I could convey the gravity of the current situation through my thoughts . Be warned always.
