Monthly Archives: March 2018

Equality must be taught!

The  new age is here,and in many different spheres of life, roles of men and women are being reversed. The wave of empowering people to do all kinds of things is coming through in a strong manner. Yet, we hear and see children differentiating and saying things like ‘That’s for girls?’ or ” Only boys wear blue’. These childhood conversations and beliefs build up the foundation of the same child growing up to say things like, ‘Women belong in the kitchen’ or  ‘Men can’t cry’.
In today’s time, men and women are equally ambitious, successful and independent. They make choices of their own. It is important to teach your child the significance of this for 2 reasons- he/she will respect parents for their lifestyle choices, and will be confident in following his/her heart when it comes to choosing a career for themselves too. The only way to bring about change is to intervene early, and shape the child’s thinking when he is young. We have no idea what situation the child will have deal with when they grow up and what adjustments they may have to make. The best option is to give children tools that push their thinking to be open minded and progressive.  Below are some strategies that can help do the same :
1. Get your own beliefs straight and model them!
Children learn by doing. Things they see around and ape behavior. Think about the biases you may have first and think about it- is that something you would like to pass on to your child? Once you are clear with what you feel, you can consciously encourage kids to show equality. Encourage them to play all games and dance. Even the things you say, should not create any bias in their mind. Refrain from using terms that speak of a certain gender.
2. Give your children exposure!
It is not necessary that children see different situations around them all the time. You need to create opportunities for children to be exposed to different gender roles and situations, Take them out and talk about things they see, maybe a chef you is a man, a woman who comes home late. Let them ask people questions about how it works, in polite manner and discuss the opinions later. Try and at talk about it in different ways, things at school at home, something shown in a movie or cartoon.
3. Build ownership
Children will not never be able to be confident about reversing gender jobs or roles unless they are used to advocating it. If you want your daughter to stand up for equal pay or your boy to open to being a stay at home dad, you need to prepare them for it. The only way is to build ownership. Assigning chores to all your children, helps them take hold of their lives and pushes them to be independent. All household/school work should be done by everyone. Only them will they feel a strong tie to identity. When that happens, they will be open to other people and their sense of identity as well.
This is something that will govern their lives, and it is important for parents to make their children realise the changing roles of gender in the society. So what if you’re a working mom and the father stays home to look after the household duties? Teach your child to respect decisions, and to follow their heart.

Is education for personal or social use?

Remember those intense formulas that you learnt in school? Or those endless hours you spent studying the history of the world and always wondered, ‘This stuff has already happened! Why am I wasting my life studying this?’ Or “Will I ever really need this formula later in life?” Here’s then thing- the curriculum has been designed in a certain way for a reason. The syllabus aims at holistically grooming you so that you can grow and develop into knowledgeable human beings that can take rational decisions after being well informed and in the best interests of society as well as yourself. Sounds intense, doesn’t it? But what this simply means is that education is not just for personal or social use, but a well-balanced combination of both.

In fact, the history bit is so that you learn from man’s past experiences and the outcomes, so that you know ‘his’ story and make life decisions, big or small based on previous experiences so you have a vague idea of how the world works. Knowledge of history helps you understand the current affairs in the world. Why are people of 2 regions at war? Why are certain political parties more favoured than the rest? It all comes down to a good knowledge of history, geography and civics.

We look at the science formulae and think,” there’s no way in hell that this is going to be useful to us when we’re grown up”, but these subjects have daily applications and practical applications in our day to day life, and we’re exposed to it so much that we don’t even realise the science that’s going into simple things happening around us!

Remember that paper fight you’d have in the class room right before the teacher was going to enter? You don’t know it, but subconsciously you’ve used some practical physics right there. How? Let us show you. You took a flat sheet of paper, crumpled it into a ball and then hurled it at your mate. You didn’t throw it just as sheet because the sheet has a larger surface area, making the terminal velocity lesser. You crumpled up the sheet into a ball with less surface area,then hurled it so that the higher terminal velocity makes It reach your target with speed. Amazing, isn’t it?

This is just one instance! Changing a punctured tyre, lifting heavy weights, driving, designing a house/club/restaurant/fitness space, all these are other small examples of how everything that we learn in school matters.  Even simple concepts of biology such as Osmosis can be seen when you water different plants differently and just observe the many concepts and facets of gardening!  Opening the door uses force, breathing uses the concept of gases and volume that pushes out the CO2 from your lungs and fills them in with oxygen. Even exercising uses concepts of science- physics, chemistry and biology!

The point here is, that studies and subjects are taught for a reason, that may not be visible right in the beginning, but they have both personal and social use in your life and ultimately play a huge role in moulding you as a human being.

Board exams are here. Here’s how you stay calm under pressure and do not suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.

It’s that time of the year. That time, when kids turn to their books like they never have before – one last time, one last hurrah! The feared, the dreaded, BOARD EXAMS! It’s only natural that they feel intense levels of stress during these months leading up to the boards because of the mentality and the sentiments around these exams that have been harboured over all these years.

“IF YOU DON’T ACE THESE EXAMS YOU WON’T GET ADMISSION ANYWHERE!”

“YOU HAVE TO DO WELL OTHERWISE FIND A NEW HOME”

“YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN SHARMAJI’S SON”

After statements like these from Indian parents, you can’t expect children to not feel pressurized when they already have a lot on their plate. It’s kind of natural though, and you shouldn’t blame yourself since this is the norm that has been followed since the past few decades, but NOW it’s time to change that and that change can start from you! Imagine if your child’s mind was at ease and he could focus without a gun to his head, wouldn’t he perform better without the risk of anxiety and panic attacks on the onset?

Here’s a few ways in which you can tackle anxiety and pre Boards stress –

 

  1. A calm, composed environment – This one is for the parents. Don’t be angry for small things, and don’t pressurize them to study every hour. Trust us when we tell you, THEY KNOW their exams are coming. Rather than pressurizing them, reassure them and make sure they’re in a calm environment that harbours learning and ensure that they aren’t taking stress.
  1. Leave the old school ideas behind – This goes for both parents and kids. While it’s important to fare well in your exams and make sure that the marks actually reflect your potential, it’s not just academics anymore that determine how a child’s future will turn out. It’s more about all round development, extra curricula’s and social skills that play a big role too. Telling your child that only marks matter will put him in a state of constant anxiety. Show him the importance of studying with relevant examples, and not simply force him to get good marks. Chances are, he/she will understand why studies are important.

  1. Be a Support System – Kids need reassurance mentally, to really unlock their true potential and put their mind to studying and not worrying about failure. This is where the parents can act as huge support systems for their kids and stand by them in probably the biggest test of their abilities till date. Talk to them, listen to them, be around for them.
  1. Know your child’s ability – You as a parent should know your child’s ability better than anyone else and know the marks they’re capable of.  Don’t be too hard on them and expect results that they’ve never got in their entire school lives. Know their ability and back them up. Accept them the way they are, every child is special in their own way. Let your child know you’re proud of him, and that you acknowledge all the effort he is putting in, and that you know he can do better.

Sounds fair? These are tips you can inculcate not just during the boards, but for life in general!

Get in touch with us if you are a student who’s stressed, or are finding parenting during this time difficult. We are here for you 🙂

A request to parents- Please stay updated with tech trends

In today’s times, staying updated with tech trends isn’t really a choice that parents have any more. It’s more of a bare necessity and falls under the mandates of ‘good parenting’. Today’s times are pretty tricky from a parenting standpoint. While the advancements in technology have made it much easier and more convenient to learn and imbibe information as kids, the evils lurking have also increased. We’ve often talked about the omnipresent social media and how they affect the child’s attention span, along with the plethora of games and apps that can have a lasting impact on a child’s impressionable mind – both positive and negative. In such times, when a child is not old enough to know what’s good for him and what isn’t, it’s the parent that needs to step in and take that call.

Now it isn’t just smartphones you need to worry about, we’ve come a long long way from that. Today’s kids have more specific demands, seeing the behaviour and usage of their peers and the gadgets that the parents themselves use. Smart watches, VR devices etc. are used by the children in a lot of cases and need to be properly supervised. These watches can run apps from the play store, and the Virtual Reality headsets give you an immensely real feel as if the world around you has changed. In a kid’s case, both these can mould their character in different ways and strict supervision is required to ensure that the apps that the kids are using are age appropriate and will do more good than harm!

But as parents you probably have a lot on your plate already. With jobs, responsibilities, added pressures that keep you occupied how can you possibly stay updated with the latest tech trends and supervise your kids? It’s really not that hard.

The key here is to ‘Get Wet but don’t drown’! What we mean is that keep an eye out for latest trends and developments that are being spoken of, but don’t read just any and every article out there. There are literally a million blogs and websites with information, but only a handful are actually relevant and true. Trust reliable sources and verified portals for your reviews and then form a judgement. A quick 5 minute internet search takes care of 90% of your task!

Find your Tech Whisperer! It can be anyone, a friend or family member that has a lot of tech knowledge, an online personality you meet at a forum or even a trusted blog that you can follow. Reach out and don’t be afraid to ask questions and queries and get your doubts cleared! Better to know something than be afraid to ask and stay in the dark.

Reach out to us for any queries/comments you’d like to leave and we’d love to get back to you. Cheers, and happy parenting!