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If
your child's day looks like this:
- "
Have so much homework and school tests but want to
play"
- "
Hope I get that cool new MP3 player"
- "Wonder
if my boyfriend/girlfriend will call me?"
- "Have
I really become fat?"
- "Why
doesn't mother stop making karela and take us out
for dinner more!"
- "Wish
Dad would stop inviting his dumb friends over!"
- "Will
I ever get past the Green Belt in Karate Class, I
am such a loser"
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| Whats
Missing? Your child needs to make more time for reading! |
If
your child responds to the word reading with the word "BORING!",
then as a parent you need to be concerned about many skills
and opportunities for self-expression and creativity that
he or she is missing out on. Reading allows a child to develop
her imagination in a free-flowing, innocent manner that comes
from the natural healthy resources of her own creative core.
TV, movies and the internet, while useful and important learning
tools, crowd the child's mind with pre-digested, pre-formulated
images created in contexts that don't always keep the development
of these subtle faculties in perspective.
Reading
opens the door for a child to create his/her own movies in
his/her own head, to provide the inner world with fantasy,
drama, imagination, music and dance in a wholly unique and
expressive manner. Characters in books, plots and situations,
and the different locales that stories are set in expand the
child's knowledge of the world, add to his understanding of
people and situations, and fuel the maturity of his mind and
expression. Reading introduces ideas and situations that make
the child question and re-look at the world around it, inspiring
debate, discussion, and dialogue. Not to mention that language
skills, written and verbal expression are also being honed
and sharpened.
When
the child learns to create ideas, build a fund of original
and creative resources within, has confidence of language,
vocabulary, and expression, he or she is never going to be
at a loss and you will find that his/her work and performance
at school, and even later on in life are ensured of excellence.
As an adult there are often times when you might have felt
insecure or inconfident about impromptu situations of extempore
speaking, or having to create your own resume, or even writing
work reports. A lifetime of reading makes these tasks less
burdensome, and can add miles to creativity.
 
But
creating an environment for reading, and encouraging reading
that contributes to a child's development has to be developed
slowly and consciously in the home, and has to be a way of
being, not merely an activity like a computer course. Parents
therefore need to read too, and if not, then need to participate
in the child's reading space by being actively involved.
Children
also require guidance in their reading, and as parents you
can introduce them to books and ideas that become diverse
windows to the world. Like for example introducing books for
children written in the vernacular, for not only is a child
exposed to new ideas but also contexts that reflect our roots
and cultural heritage. Most of what children read for leisure
creates scenarios and ideas that are often located in foreign
contexts, and if the child does not have any exposure to indigenous
literature, there is a whole history and life experiences
that it gets divorced from. (And not forgetting that Hindi
or Second Language marks in his/her school may also begin
to improve!). For example, a child brought up on a diet of
Enid Blyton and not much else may actually expect to look
outside his/her window and see Robin Red Breast chirping away.
Or he/she may think that mysteries and detective stories are
limited to the Hardy Boys, completely oblivious to the tradition
of characters like Satyajit Ray's teenage detective Feluda,
or H.R.F. Keating's Inspector Ghote. A child requires a global
vision, but one that is rooted in his/her own innate understanding
of the rich culture and history of the landmass he/she belongs
to..
While
parents can encourage reading, there is something to be said
for monitoring and supervision of reading material. Children
have a wide and expansive curiosity and might explore books
that are unsuitable or age-inappropriate; so you must be observant
and watchful of the kinds of reading material that lie around
the house. But as parents, as with most other issues too,
you do need to discuss these issues with your children and
allow them to defend their own case for reading what they
want to. Primarily pornography and books with an adult sexual
content need to be monitored for they can have a dramatic
effect on a young person who cannot always understand the
contexts in which these materials are produced, or forsee
the repercussions of such images and ideas. But by no means
should children be unaware of books or other reading materials
that contain a sexual content that is relevant to them, or
those that are written especially to inform them in healthy
ways about their bodies and their sexual selves. A number
of authors in the UK and USA have produced books for pre-teens
and teenagers that create fictional situations around real-life
experiences like puberty, love and sex, family conflicts etc.
Such books can not only provide information to the child,
but also reassures them that "these things do happen", and
may even provide healthy solutions and inspiration. So if
your thirteen year old is hooked on Mills and Boon, don't
assume that she is being "corrupted" by it, but recognize
that she has an interest and a curiosity in love and sex and
relationships, just as you once did, and instead you could
direct her to more direct sex-education material. Children
should be allowed to choose topics and areas that interest
them, but it is not out of place to keep introducing a range
of different kinds of books that might expose them to new
material that could expand their vision and thinking. While
fashion magazines may be of interest they cannot and do not
provide all the interest and stimulation a child requires.
In other words don't burn the Archie comics but do discuss
the benefits of classics too!
It is possible
to create a healthy reader out of your child. You have to
be the inspiration, and its always best to start early.
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