BENGALURU: School-going children, especially those below 15 years of age, easily get carried away by the cartoon and reality shows they watch, say educators and psychologists. They say parents should keep a close check on their activities. The negligence can result in children indulging in crimes and being vulnerable to teasing, harassment, lies and cyber bullying.Kala Bala Subramanian, a counsellor, says that children look up to their parents, celebrities, superheroes or cartoon characters at this ‘impressionable age’.
Commenting on the recent death of an eight-year-old who died while allegedly imitating a risky fire dance sequence, she says, “At this age, the child is not capable of differentiating between good and bad and in order to be accepted among their peers and feel a sense of accomplishment, the child is driven to try such dangerous acts.”
This incident has left parents worried as they don’t know what their child is understanding through such cartoons and daily soaps which portray violence, crime, hatred, jealousy and cheating. Some of the popular toons among kids are Doraemon, Pokemon, Shin-chan, Motu patlu, Perman and reality shows such as Bigg Boss and Roadies. Parents complain that their children misbehave, talk back boldly like their favourite cartoon character does to its parent, over reacts to situations and teases family members using inappropriate names.
Tasneem Fathima, mother of two teenagers, says, “My children watch Doraemon only during their holidays because they don’t get time to watch on regular school days. I’ve seen them enacting scenes from it just for fun but sometimes they start talking back to us, like those toons. We correct them but, when their favourite characters do that, they feel that there is nothing shameful about such behaviour.”
Farhath Jehan, grandmother of a five-year-old toddler says that her grand daughter has become too naughty and stubborn after watching Shin Chan. Salma Sultana, mother of a three-year-old, says her son is glued to television and does not respond to her repeated calls just like Nobita does in the cartoon Doraemon. “He gets zero always. He gets late to school always and like Giaan, he beats children up. I try to stop him from watching such cartoons and encourage him to spend time outdoors.”
She adds that there should be more informative cartoons rather than the ones such as Shin Chan and Doraemon, which are making children “lazy and disobedient”.
Ayaan and Alina, children of Hajira Kauser, refuse to play outdoors and are not bothered about developing a reading habit. She says that her daughter who is eight years old poses in front of the mirror and loves doing makeup inspired by her favourite TV actress and her son who is just ten years old attemps mimicry and also imitates fight sequences. She also points out that at times they misbehave and also use swear words used in the programmes they watch such as Big Boss. “The maximum we can do as a parent is to disconnect the TV.”Another parent Noor Khan has managed to get her children involved in other activities such as drawing, painting, paper origami and sports. This has reduced their screen time, she says.
Responsibility of parents
Vivetha S, a lecturer at Mount Carmel College, says, “As parents, they should interact with their kids often and keep track on what they are watching. They should talk to them regarding the programmes they watched and understand the impact cartoons have created on them and accordingly, mould their thoughts in a positive manner.” Educator Syed Farook says no parent can outsource this responsibility to others, either caregivers or their teachers. The most effective way for a parent to be sure the children stay on the right path is to teach them right values, not just in theory but in practice. Knowing the right from wrong at an early age protects the children from being unduly influenced by negative messages from that cartoons and soaps may provide.”
Children lose innocence due to reality shows
Kala Bala Subramanian, psychologist, says that reality shows promote a lot of open aggression and negativity. Being rude to someone and scheming against one and another is encouraged to increase the TRP of the show. “Children watching such shows lose their innocence and find it very cool to follow such ruthless attitude. Parents need to be strict with their children and make sure that they are not exposed to such shows at a tender age.” she adds.
‘Problems lies in the way parents approach their child’
Counsellor Kala highlights that the parents should explain to their children why these are not good for them. “Parents should also reward them for their good behaviour which will boost their self-control. If you advise them not to watch a particular TV show and you continue watching it, it is not going to help the child as the basic condition of parenting is to practice what you preach,” she says. She adds that though most of the times children are brought for counselling, she ends up counselling parents as the problem lies in the way they approach their child and address the issue. Anjum banu, mother of Rafeel and Rayan says, that she censors what her children watch. “The cartoons or movies I let them watch don’t contain violence or crime. About other things such as jealousy and cheating, they can learn that at school or playground as it’s a part of their learning process and I am okay with that as long as parents educate children to differentiate between the right and wrong.”