Growth challenges for children in a mega city

Every day I wake up in the morning and go to the corridor attached to my room to feel the wind blowing from the west and as usual when I look into the flat opposite mine, I get vexed. This is because the corridor of that flat is totally wrapped up with a net. Not that particular flat only, rather all the flats of that apartment have used the same kind of net to cover their corridor to stop the mad rush of mosquitoes. This specific idea always stings me as the people living in those flats are living the life of a poultry chicken. Especially when I see any child standing in the corridor grasping the net, h/she seems like a prisoner imprisoned in a jail. It is really staggering that the children dwelling in those flats can neither inhale fresh air owing to the obstruction created by the net in the corridor nor they can observe the surroundings from the corridor.

Basically, the children in Dhaka city are being brought up in a very weird way and consequently their growth is hampered in every way possible. A child’s life is actually limited to the space available in the flat and h/she is not normally exposed to the outside world. All the activities of the children are centered round and within the narrow space of the flats. They just cannot step out of their room (in regards of space) and so, they pass their leisure time within their room. Especially after the coronavirus hit the world, the situation has deteriorated further, taking a heavy toll on the mental health of the children living in this mega city and hamstringing their overall growth.

How a child is being reared up affects greatly the overall growth of that child. Normally the children in the village areas are being exposed to natural environment and consequently, they usually have a sound growth as the mind begins learning from the surroundings. On the other hand, the children in the city areas do not have any surrounding since the open spaces in the cities are being occupied by gigantic buildings only. So, a child can literally see nothing but tall unresponsive buildings. Most of the time they stay within the flat that ultimately affects them very negatively as it is very important to go outside and reveal yourself to the open ambience for a proper development of your thought process.

Moreover, the children cannot expand their thoughts and cultivate creative things in their minds as they do not come in contact with nature. Look deep, says Albert Einstein, into nature and then you will understand everything better. Einstein has clearly and perfectly pointed out the significance of nature on the gradual development of one’s thinking capability. Nature influences the way a man views a particular thing. And as he/she grows up, the way of judgment also changes and the change starts from the very early age (childhood). But the children in Dhaka city live far away from pristine nature and so, they do not learn anything. They fail to comprehend the preliminary relation of human being with nature and consequently their growth gets hampered.

Again, as they stay within the limited area of the flat mostly, they just cannot think beyond the ordinary. They form a world inside their mind and build up a circle of thinking, which they cannot transgress even if they want. Their thoughts get limited to that circle and so, they continue to be narrow-minded. Such narrowness of thought seriously harms the overall growth of the children.

In the meantime, the children in Dhaka city pass a very monotonous life. Their life is devoid of fun and amusement. They usually go through a very busy schedule all through the week. They attend classes for rest of the week and the weekend is supposed to be entertaining for them. But, it is alarming that they do not even get spare time on the weekend as their parents arrange coaching classes and tuitions on weekends. Consequently, they cannot refresh the mind that may result in serious psychological disorder in them in the long run. Despite the fact that owing to the rogue virus, children have been temporality relieved of the heavy study burden, the fact remains that they are now more engrossed in smartphones, rather than engaging in creative activities.

Jean Piaget, a developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children, has put forward the theory of cognitive development. This theory includes four stages for the intellectual development of the children. One of those stages is ‘concrete operational stage’ and it is the most influential stage. The concrete operational stage begins around age seven and continues until someone reaches eleven. During this time, children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events. But if the child’s normal growth between age seven to eleven gets hindered in any way, then that particular child may be unable to gain that intellectual development he/she is supposed to get as described by Piaget. So, it is very significant to ensure a sound growth for the child in his/her initial years.

In a nutshell, the parents should be more cautious about their children. The parents should stop thinking so mechanically because their children are not automatons, rather they should expose their children to nature so that they learn things from the versatility of nature. Sometimes psychological disorders in the children go unnoticed by the parents, but such ignorance may cause perilous blowbacks. So, parents need to be more far-sighted and do whatever it takes to ensure a sound growth for the children so that they get the opportunity to blush and bloom like flowers.

The writer is a freelance contributor.