Problems Of Growing Kids

                                                                                                       

 What are the problems that growing children face 

India’s children face some of the harshest conditions anywhere in the world. They suffer from the mistakes of their parents, the ignorance of an apathetic system, and the lack of a    proactive support system. These circumstances, combined with existing social problems, rob children of the opportunities they deserve to climb out of their lives of misery. These problems must be examined openly, so that all stakeholders who support an NGO or charity can provide unique perspectives to tackle them.

                                     Malnutrition

Today, India ranks behind Haiti, Burkina Faso and Bangladesh in terms of malnutrition. The condition is so bad that most of the children in India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh are stunted. This despite spending billions on child nutrition programmes over the last few decades. People preferring carbohydrates over protein or fat and vegetarians avoiding egg and meat also add to the problem of malnutrition among kids.

                                    Stunting 

Stunted growth in children is an outcome of severe malnutrition during the most crucial times of early childhood . Apart from starvation, many additional factors also contribute to stunting – including choice of a carbohydrate-rich diet over a protein-rich one, poor maternal health during pregnancy and lack of proper sanitation. 

                                  Child labour

Despite decades of social reforms, Child labour still flourishes in our cities and villages. Caught between the planes of India’s poverty prism, kids who are already far removed from an inadequate educational system, get further caught in the grips of child labour. Parents also force their kids into work to earn for their families.

                                  Forced Begging                              

Forced begging is a multi-million underground industry in our country which abuses over 3 lakh children. They use all means to force the children to beg from drug addiction to mental, physical and sexual abuse. Children are regularly hurt and even maimed to make them more pitiable and are usually given targets to meet during their begging trips.

                                       Diarrhoea

Despite being easily preventable, diarrhoea is one of India's biggest killers of children under 5. Along with poor access to nutritious clean food and water, it is also linked to poor hygiene.  For every 1,000 live births, 42 die, and every 20 seconds a child dies from preventable causes like pneumonia, preterm and birth complications, newborn infections, diarrhoea and malaria.

                            Taking things the other way round                

    Change in dynamics of the world and how kids are prepared to deal with this 

Communities of old taught children survival skills like crafting tools, tracking animals, distinguishing edible from poisonous plants, and how to negotiate with other groups and learn the social dynamics of their own. Until the 20th century the Gurukul training system in India paired students with gurus to live with and learn from them spiritual, academic and artistic skills, where “learning was a continuous process, and the ultimate target was self-refinement and self-realisation.”

With the Industrial Revolution came the need for occupation-driven education through apprenticeships, whereby youth learned trades and skills for work.

As children do, our definition of what counts as a high quality education has evolved, as have the sites used to prepare children for their future

             Covid lockdown scenario where they have lost physical interaction ?

Families across the country are adapting to the evolving changes in daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most schools, places of public gathering, and nonessential businesses are closed, and parents and other caregivers are faced with helping their families adjust to the new normal. This includes trying to keep children occupied, feeling safe, and attempting to keep up with schoolwork as best as possible. None of this is easy, but it helps to stay focused on what is possible in order to reinforce a sense of control and to reassure children that they are okay, and that the situation will get better.

                       Having values to be carried forward and lived 

Values are very important in parenting since they deeply influence all behaviours and attitudes and affect our decisions and relationships in children. For a value to be truly your own, you must act on it and your behaviour must reflect it on your kids – not just verbally accept it or think that you should follow it.

                                  Conclusion

While these facts may make you believe that the rescue and rehabilitation of India’s at-risk children is difficult, the truth is that civil society has become a powerful change agent for them. The sustained campaigns of NGOs like Save the Children, as well as swift intervention in emergency situations like natural calamities, has given them a new hope.