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As gramps don't bring 'em stories anymore, children turn to idiot box

With no mythology, folklore to keep them hooked, toddlers need distraction in form of TV to eat.

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There was a time decades ago when knowledge of mythology and ancient Indian culture and history came through stories narrated by grandparents. Not anymore.

The knowledge among children on these topics has reduced significantly and it is being attributed to the nuclearisation of families and the absence of grandparents at home to step in with interesting stories to tell children.

The result is that children dominate over their working parents, laying conditions like wanting their favourite television cartoon channels on to be fed. And the hapless parent, having to balance work and the health of the child, gives in.

With the diminishing joint-family culture and the absence of grandparents at home, compounded with the advent of television and the fast-paced city life, most mothers (who are working nowadays) find it convenient to feed their children in front of televisions to distract them so their job of feeding them is easier to accomplish.

However, this disturbing trend, the doctors and specialists say, will only lead to the child becoming either aggressive or very reserved, one without any emotional attachment towards others.

For instance, four-year-old Nisha gets cranky if she does not have the television on while being fed by her mother. The mother, Revathi Narayan, a working woman, has a tough time feeding her on days when there is a power cut or when the television is not working as her child will not eat food without the idiot box on.

Several working parents that dna spoke to have expressed this problem.

For these parents, feeding their children becomes a chore and the television is a tool of convenience helping them to finish it.

Doc’s diagnosis

But doctors warn that if this trend continues, children may get aggressive and also end up being emotionally detached from parents and others. “Children need the touch of the parents or grandparents to have emotional bonding. It helps them emotionally in their growing years,” says CR Chandrashekhar, professor, psychiatry, Nimhans. “If that doesn’t happen, children can either become aggressive or reserved. Communicating with the child is very essential. Some kids also become very sensitive or they become completely detached from the world. This becomes a problem in their personality development over the years.”

Suguna Krupa, a paediatrician who practices from Mysore, says: “It’s alright to have television only on special occasions. The child must feel that it is a treat for him for behaving well. He must know the value for getting the television.”

Suguna says there are some mothers who are trying to bring this value into their children.
“I have a two-year-old son who has a very high level of energy. He must run around or vent it out. But, if I put the television on, I can make sure that he eats his meal, I am there to talk to him and tell him stories so that he eats his food and also learns in the process.

When he finishes his meal properly, we put on the television as a treat for having the meal properly,” says Anusha Bharath Rathore, a home-maker.

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