How eagerly we used to wait for exams to get over….dreaming about a two month vacation visiting our grandparents village.
Pampering by grand mom grandpa uncles aunts and many neighbours about whom we came to know that they were not family member only when we grew up.
Today if I want to conduct any extra class in school premises for co curricular activities I see that no students are available.
I called few parents to know the reason of their not being available , thinking that they might be visiting their native places during vacation. I was surprised to know that most of these students had already enrolled in one or the other activity class going on during vacation. Some of them even had a very high fees. And today I saw this message being circulated on social media….
“I opened today’s morning newspaper and found several leaflets all calling out for enrollment into Summer Camps for Children. There were several advertisements inside the newspaper as well. A quick glance of these summer camp offerings is all about Spoken English, Abacus, Midbrain Activation, Increasing memory power, Memorizing techniques, Personality development starting from 3 year old children, Robotics for Class 5 students and so on. There were few for sports and music as well. I remember a parent asking me in one of my career counselling session as to how his son who just finished his exams the day before is sleeping till 7 am and wanted my advice on which class he should enrol. Thinking about it I guess we have lost our mind completely. Summer vacation was something kids really looked forward to in the past but Iam not sure if the same can be said now for a vast majority. Why can’t a kid sleep a bit extra, play with his/her friends in the apartment, eat well, rest well, visit relatives/friends and more importantly just being the kids they are supposed to be. If they are really interested in a class let them join but this summer camp craze is heights and really puts so much pressure on the kids even during vacation. I really look forward to my son’s vacation not for anything else but for those few extra hours I get to spend with him.The best personality development trainer for the kids can only be their parents and if at all we really want to give them a good time, try and check if you can bargain some time from your schedule and spend that time may be playing a game together or having fun by what our kids would like to do. When I see a kid speaking like a grown up adult, it just scares me and there’s nothing to be proud about.”
I too strongly agree to this message and feel that today our children know to play so many games, but only VIRTUALLY. Many of them have never held a foot ball , basket ball , badminton racket, table tennis racket or lawn tennis racket but they know. the rules of the games, Just because they play these games on computer or tabs or on phone. Give them a racket and they don’t know what to do with that. This is my personal experience with kids in the family. They can talk about cricket for hours together but cannot even hold the bat correctly.
So parents, what is the solution? Pls plan your vacations with your kids in such a way that they get some time to spend outdoors. Relax and also learn some new games or sport. Let them enjoy their childhood in a natural way. This time will never come back ….
