14 November is Children’s Day in India – a day when teachers would perform for kids in schools, brands would offer special discounts and so on. It is also the day when people share their memories of childhood on social media. So there were a lot of memories being shared with the #childhood hashtag and a lot of nostalgia on #ChildrensDay:
Children are seen as honest and shorn of artifice because the world has not yet taught them pretence, fear and shame.
Kids make enemies quickly but forget and forgive just as quickly. The methods of conflict-resolution and problem-solving are direct and uncomplicated.
Kids tend not to worry about things like dirty clothes, scraped knees or lost shoes – because other things are more important.
Going by what is going to happen next in that image, we can be reasonably sure that those kids would learn some colourful new profanities.
Those who are adults today did very different things as children – there was more time spent out of doors in unstructured play and people are nostalgic for those old days.
Childhood is when one is not burdened by the demands and responsibilities of being an adult. People were tweeting #HappyChildrensDay
Alas in our culture, we are taught that obedience is a virtue. Children are taught never to question authority and told to fall in line; killing creativity and critical thinking.
There is an instinctive joy and capacity for love that kids seems to have. Wonder, love, curiosity, honesty --- these are the qualities of childhood we lose somewhere along the way
Kids today are heavily reliant on gadgets of all sorts – for their social interaction, entertainment, play and even their studies.
Some shared their own pictures and some shared pictures of their fave celebs.
People shared images of their fave celebs – then and now.
Some social media posts also had images showing today’s celebs as kids with other celebs.
Kids have unique challenges and lack power in a world ruled by adults. Adults would do well to recognise this and work to understand kids rather than to have unrealistic expectations from them.
Recent reports have shown how malnutrition, stunting and wasting have actually increased in India over the past few years. This public health issue should concern every Indian.
Children’s day is also when we can draw the attention of policymakers to problems such as child labour. The circumstances that push so many kids into work and exploitation are complex and need structural changes and not just bandaid solutions.
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