Too mature for the age

Does your kid talk too maturely for her age? If yes, relish the fac,t as it’s normal in big cities but handle its repercussions with care and lend a patient ear to her, irrespective of nature and intensity of topics she is inclined to. Psychologists advise that if someone else becomes her confidant, it might wreck havoc for her personality building.

Indian kids are becoming adolescent at the pace at which westernisation is making inroads into little minds. Thanks to the gizmos and easy access to world wide information that they have become accustomed to the complex and enriching life. According to all parameters, they are miles ahead of their earlier generations at the same age.

Bounties of knowledge
Present day kids know more, spend more, dream higher and mover faster in life. Call it a technological boon or curse; it is happening in big cities. For broad minded parents, it is surely a welcome development and they feel glad to see their kids grow faster.
Knowledge comes handy and at the click of mouse, a five-year-old can download the valuable information which could be attained only after sheer research a few decades ago. Things have changed undoubtedly for good but they are fraught with certain dangers too.

Handle with care
These aftermaths must be dealt with utter care and subtlety. Answering their “bold” queries sometimes scare the parents and they get visibly shaken at them growing so fast.
“Where do children come from?” quips Mishka Porwal, daughter of Sanskriti Khanna Porwal, and latter gropes for an assuaging answer to satiate her childish instincts. “I get confused about how to handle such situations, but I am happy that my daughter is becoming worldly wise as a result of techno-boom,” says Sanskriti, a proud mother of three-year-old.
Mishka will take her baby steps to school in the upcoming session but has already started using computer at home. Though, she hasn’t even gone to school as yet but has seen a side of the world through online window. She has already had a glimpse of the global village sitting in her living room. Most of kids of her age and older are lucky enough to have been privileged of bounties of web knowledge.

Instill responsibility

Sex is still considered a taboo, which fascinates young minds easily and parents get apprehensive of sharing minute details with them, which marks the beginning of gaps widening between two generations. It’s considered a style statement to lose virginity at the earliest. Out of peer pressure, kids don’t feel like staying in the safe cocoons fraught with parental advices and morality. “They analyse things on their own and do them as they feel like doing. Haranguing them doesn’t fetch anything besides breeding a sense of hostility in them. We shouldn’t tell them what they should do, rather suggest them the right things. Give them the freedom of thought and make them feel like mature individuals. It will surely instill a sense of responsibility, says Samir Parikh, clinical psychologist, Max Hospital.

Girl \boyfriend is a must

Even for a 12-year-old, having a girlfriend is a matter of prestige. “Most of my friends have girlfriends and they boast of having them. Though I don’t have one, but it’s quite common for all of us,” says Siddharth.
His mother Sujata believes that it’s perfectly fine for kids of his age to have female friends but not the girlfriends. Losing virginity is again a big-no for teenagers, she believes.
But, surely, kids are getting wiser and mature at a young age and even parents are acknowledging the fact. Siddharth is even approached by parents whenever a family decision is taken. “These days, a new house is being renovated and my suggestions are taken by them. It’s only the financial matters, when my age surfaces as a barrier,” says Siddharth.
He also believes that kids should not be considered unworthy-of-having-an-intelligent-conversation-with and every time, they shouldn’t be countered for the mere reason of their low age. Treat them with maturity and you will feel the slice of maturity exuding out of them.

Samir Parikh speaks:

Growing up faster for kids in metros shouldn’t be taken as maturity, it is mere easy access to knowledge which is making them smarter and relatively knowledgeable. It’s parents’ duty to introspect what kids think and what they expect parents to do. They shouldn’t be refused anything pointblank just for the heck of it.
Parents should let the kids do self-observation, self-correction and likewise self-evaluation of their personalities. It will definitely instill maturity and a sense of responsibility. Also, if kids are under the illusion that whatever they are doing is right (when they might be wrong also), then parents should guide kids eloquently and show them the right path. We should encourage them to enlarge their horizons. Try to be candid with kids and discuss even the conventionally-considered-taboo-topics with them. If someone else does, it might shape up child’s consciousness wrongly.

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