The era of super parenthood

During the good olden days, growing up in a joint family, we were a lucky and happy lot because every elderly person including parents, uncles and aunts took pains to guide us at every step.

In fact, grand parents had a profound impact on all of us inasmuch they not only imparted the importance of moral education but encouraged us to mingle and interact with children coming from different social, cultural and religious beliefs. This has greatly helped us to treat with reverence and respect elders.

It is well known that more than schoolteachers, parents are the best teachers in moulding their children as they grow. As joint family had distinct advantages, every elderly person not only showered blessings but would come open-heartedly to help every child in learning the lessons.

They therefore took all pains to make us understand in detail the nuances of life and then guided us the right way with the result the children inculcated the right attitude and spirit to respect culture, beliefs and faiths followed by others.

As sharing and leading a peaceful life was the hallmark, parents were spared of hiring a tuition teacher as elder brothers and sisters were there to help the younger ones in various subjects. Festival and vacation was the most enjoyable period where we played games, listened to stories told by grandparents with rapt attention.

Parents were strict and disciplined but never authoritarian as they understood better of the child's psyche and were able to adapt to suit to the changing needs and personality of the child. Interestingly, the growing years in such environment with minimum needs was pleasant and enjoyable throughout.

Comparatively, the breaking of the joint family system and the four punching bags of modern urban life--Globalisation, Internet, Television and Mobile has brought a sea-change in parenting inasmuch it is becoming increasingly difficult for the parents to bring up a child in a normal manner.

In the first place, in this madly busy world, life has become mechanical as children force you to stay in touch with their emotions, as a result demands of children for modern gadgets than books is on the rise. The child in a nucleus family being alone most part of the day is restless and depressed even if a single want is not fulfilled.

Where a parent tends to be strict, such children turn aggressive and rebel against the norms and rules set by them. Similarly, in many cases, children been over-pampered end up becoming impulsive do not show interest to study well even as peer pressure mounts on them to get rank in competitive examinations.

There is no denying the fact like many other aspects, parenting today is largely influenced by the west. They dream of sending their children to the foreign shores for higher studies at any cost without assessing the suitability of the child. In aping anything foreign blindly, it is bound to come with its own follies and confusion as witnessed daily.

As such, the values of patience and communication is getting narrower between the parents and children in most households. Spending time with the children is a bygone era as quick route of money is adopted to appease them knowing well these short-cut methods may only prove disastrous to the children.

All in all, style of parenting yesteryears was a dynamic phenomenon which need to be emulated by parents of today as it fulfils the unique needs of the child in all respects so that they understand the basic values of human relationship better to enrich emotional anchoring and bonding.