Kids are responsibility of all, not just parents, say experts
Parents, teachers, medical practitioners and health experts talk of raising children with diverse requirements
NEW DELHI: Aimed to create a space where parents, teachers, psychologists, medical practitioners can be brought together to discuss the prospects of creating a safer and emotionally healthy environment for children, Imagine 2019, a day-long event, was held at India International Centre Saturday.
The theme for the annual event, organised by Children First, a child and adolescents’ organisation, in collaboration with production house Teamwork Arts, was “parenting with courage”. “We want to redefine parenting. We do not see parenting as something that exists only inside our homes. It is about how all adults and corporate organisations have the responsibility to make this world a better place for our children,” said Shelja Sen, co-founder, Children First.
The event saw conversations on how to support differentlyabled children, personal narratives of raising children belonging to diverse genders, classes and cultural backgrounds. While neuroscience specialist Dr Nandini Chatterjee Singh discussed factors affecting social and emotional learning across a neurodiverse world, Sanjoy Roy, managing director of Teamwork Arts, spoke about ideas of safety and protection of street children. Actor Arjun Mathur, on the other hand, discussed the need for media to discuss social issues seen as a taboo.
“We are discussing the diverse needs of children. These include children with learning difficulties, autism, ADHD, etc.,” explained Sen.
The event was started last year, when it themed on emotional safety of children. For the following year, Children First has planned to focus on schools and in 2021 the event will be themed on narratives of personal experiences as therapy.
Discussing the ways in which neurodiversity in children can be supported, Singh said, “We need to increase experiences of positive emotions which can be recollected in times of stress. Now there is neurological evidence to show that positive emotions are markers of humans who are flourishing.”
Speaking about his child coming out as a transgender person, Dr. Sanjay Sharma spoke about how as a parent the most important thing is to stand by one’s child, to see them happy, which meant he had to realign his own definitions of success and happiness.
The event, which was attended by around 250-300 people, saw inquisitive parents raising questions on the need to address challenges faced by parents of adopted children. “This is just the starting. It is important to encourage more conversations on themes related to all kinds of diversity among children,” said Dr. Kavita Arora, co-founder of Children First.