I took my son to play outside last evening. As he was riding his Doraemon kids ride, I noticed a few kids from my building playing nearby. They were aged between 6-10 years. I also noticed a few girls in the same age bracket standing near these kids and watching them play. They seemed keen to join in, but would not approach the kids from my building. I called out to one of my neighbor’s daughter who was playing there and asked her why she wouldn’t ask them to join in. “While playing, the more the merrier”, I said to her.
“We cannot play with them. They cannot play here. This is our space. They can play near theirs” she said. I was appalled! Another child walked up to me and said the same thing “Aunty, we don’t play with them”. I tried calling the girls from the other building but they were too shy to talk to me. I was surprised to see such groupism in kids. But I knew where all this had started from…Both these buildings are in a common compound but there has been some property and boundary related disputes which would have often come up in their homes in their parents’ conversations. I believe the kids’opinions were shaped accordingly and the feud between adults extended to become the feud between kids.
I discussed this with my husband at night and he said – that is why education should begin at home. That got me thinking. Do I make the same mistake? How do I interact with others? Am I setting a good example for my child?
What a child thinks and how he shapes up depends to a great extent on the relationships and the conversations he witnesses in his own house. Today, we live in a world divided due to financial , caste , religious differences etc. but we as a parent should strive to teach our child to not judge others unfairly , have an open mind and be a kind person. After all, today’s kids are tomorrow’s young people who will shape our world.
