Children of the modern era are very different and more evolved than the children before the advent of TV and Radio period. With inflation most families have both working parents and kids suffer from neglect. Their bringing up is left to maids or they become addicted to TV cartoons, which are of Indian, Taiwanese or English in origin. As these countries have their own culture, norms and values, than ours, the children have an entirely different exposure and understanding of what is shown on the TV.
Today’s child is also more verbal, confident and advanced in so many ways, yet parents tend to treat them as they are generally treated in our society, forgetting that times have changed. A child is beaten up, hushed up whenever the parents feel like, forgetting that the secret of changing the behaviour of a child lies not in thrashing but mounding them in the right mould through love and care. An important way in which the behaviour of the children can be moulded is through entertainment; foremost among them are cartoons.
Now a reason why today’s child is more violent, aggressive and rowdy is because of some of the cartoons they watch. I am sure we can lay the blame on the cartoons they watch all day long. Sadly, with so much creative talent in Pakistan, it is a pity that we have not been able to make our own cartoon shows, which would reflect our culture and values. This is an important factor in a child’s life to be able to tell the good from bad and the consequences in light of their own situation. A recently introduced cartoon show, known as Burqa Avengers is a good attempt though, as it depicts the situation the country is in and how young girls and students must stand up against Taliban and must never step back in the face of prevailing fears and threats.
In their first few years, children are like sponges; they take in a lot of information and store it, so it is vital to provide the right kind of entertainment and cartoons. Pakistan needs to come up with some good cartoons.
DR AMNA RIZVI,
Lahore, December 23.