Being in my twenties now, I can recollect memories of my school days, when every evening I would rush home eager to share stories from school with my mom. It could be simple jokes cracked in class or some remarks made on me, during the day. This way, she knew every friend of mine by name at least, if not by their faces.
However, fast-forward to today, with the growing urban culture and busy life of people around us; it has now become a very common sight for kids to return home, from school, to not find their mom or dad waiting eagerly to hear stories from them. There is hardly any do minute ki Maggi in the evenings, that would usually be engaged with never ending stories about their day in school. Given such a situation, it has now become a common question. “Does this have an effect on Kids?”
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To answer this question, it is first important to understand what a kid of this age thinks like? To speak out of experience (which I am sure, many reading this have themselves had), in that age, when you are somewhere stuck from being a kid to a teenager, life offers you with many paradoxes. Looking back at a few today brings me laughter. But, in that age, it sure was a huge crisis situation, a one which in my mind I had assumed to be something, that even the President of the United States needed to look into. Such is the innocence of that age. In between all of this, to have someone who hears out to their cries and worries is important. Especially important it is for that ‘someone’ to be the kid’s parent.
Also, this is that very same age when there are a lot of changes happening everywhere around the kid. Then be it internally (like hormonal changes) or externally (like peer pressure, societal identity, etc.). Given this, it is absolutely normal for the kid to become curious and even confused (in some cases a lot more scared). There are some fears that a child would not be comfortable discussing with any other person, even a close a family member for that matter. I know of situations myself when at first I was not comfortable sharing it even with my own parents, then siblings and other family members, teachers and friends are completely out of the question. A parent here plays a very important role.
Parents can step in to keep that bond intact so that the child is at complete ease to discuss anything and this discussion only helps in making his or her transition, from a being a kid to a young adult, all the less confusing and smooth.
What happens when kids fail to get this attention? You know where they tend to seek answers from – the Internet’. Curiosity is very good for a child, but if not solved rightly, it can lead to a disaster. Many times, this source – the internet – can lead the child to the unwanted territories like pornography. The curiosity is solved, but not in the right way. This was just an example of how things can go wrong. In some cases, this will also lead to depression, addiction and a lot more.
I am sure, now the question that you are thinking of is: “Does that mean one of the parents needs to quit their job?” The answer to this is a big “No.” The problem here isn’t alone, with parents working, but is more about the managing of work and life. If parents can work out ways that can help them work and also spend quality time with their family, then most one does not have to quit his / her job. ‘Prioritizing’ and ‘Time-management’ are the two key takeaways to solve the problem.
