Reach to your teenagers

The children in today`s world have many sources to get information and are not solely dependent upon the teachers and the parents or the family as they used to be before. In earlier times the food outlets and the entertainment opportunities were also very limited and the children used to have food and go to watch films etc, with the family members and that was the reason there was a lot of interaction which would take place between the parents and the children.Not only this, in the schools, the students were dependent more on their school teachers and even if they needed some extra help the teachers were available to them after school hours also.The "Guru-Shishaya parampara" as we know it, was an immaculate system of education. The teachers were completely devoted and dedicated to their students and anchored them for nearly everything under the sun.The students who were seeking tuition were limited in number and they were even shy of letting anybody know about that because this was a rare act.Moreover,it was also considered to be only for weak learners.  The interaction between the students and teachers was not confined to academics only but was much beyond that because the teacher was treated as one of the very important person in the life of a child and most of the times as a member of the family.This way neither parents ever felt that the children were away from them nor the teachers.

But now things have completely  changed and what was considered lowly and disgraceful earlier is done with a lot of pride and this I am talking in context of the tuition culture.The situation is this that the one who does not go for tuition is perceived from a different angle as if the parents can not afford it or the child is unable to cope-up .The truth is that tuition and coaching is not necessarily the need but has become a  fashion in today`s time.The teachers have also changed in their approach either due to changed  circumstances or on their own.This has resulted in a few necessary evils .In the race of achieving more and doing better in terms of marks or the money, the children have been forced to move away form the parents and the teachers.This is more in case of parents and that should be the cause of worry for everyone of us and there are many people who have expressed their serious concern on this issue which is putting our children in difficult situation and pushing them into something which neither they are happy with(apparently they may be appearing to be happy) nor the parents and even the teachers. Then what should be done to check this? I have a few suggestions which I keep sharing with the teachers and the parents.

Till the age of 10-11 years the children are very close to their parents and the teachers and their life revolves around them. The impact of other things might be there in some cases where the parents might not be approachable to them due to certain reasons.When the children enter this important phase of life which is known as teenage, then the influence of the friends and the outside world starts fascinating the teenagers because now neither they are in the category of kids nor the adults. This is basically the transitional phase from being kids to becoming adults. I can say that this is the molten state of the matter and in this state if proper handling is missing the child may go in any direction.Now the children start behaving in a different manner than what they used to do before and at times the adults misunderstand this as the maturity of the children.The teenagers starts avoiding to share with the parents and the teachers and that makes them drift away from them.If we do not take care of our children at this stage they might be influenced by those factors which may cause harm to them. You must have noticed that it is during this period, children tend to remain confined to their rooms and enjoy themselves with the friends and the entry of the parents in their life is considered by them as an intrusion or threat.

There are many examples shared by the parents and also teachers that their child does not share the happiness or the problems or any other issues which he/she used to do before. They should understand that there are physiological and psychological changes taking place in the body and the mind of the child. They tend to be more interested in talking to the people of opposite sex(not necessarily in negative sense which most of the parents and the teachers take it).The teenagers feels happy in the company of each other and that should not be misunderstood for something else.When two boys or two girls can be friends to each other then we should not see anything negative if a boy is talking to girl or vice-versa. There are many cases in which the children approach me asking this very question as why were they seen with doubtful eyes while talking to some boy or girl.

The other most important thing the parents and teachers should do is that they should try to reach the teenagers so that you can understand them and their problems in better way. If they would be comfortable with you then most of the prevailing evils which might harm the children will be taken care of. Do not allow the gap between the children and yourself so much which blindfolds you of the life of your child.If we do not understand the implications of this age then remember there are many evils ready to engulf our children.So my advise to all parents and the teachers would be that even if the children are not reaching to you (which is a natural phenomenon in this age) you approach them because the children are the most important assets for us and our country.