CHILDREN

So the hot topic of discussion in my seven-year-old's PTM recently was about bad words. One parent explained that his son had been using few unsuitable words off late and discussed the approach that he was taking. Soon all of us were talking of the same thing - the S word, the I word, the F word - that seemed to have made their presence felt in our children's lives, despite all our best intentions. Chiding children always is not the solution. File pic. Where do our children, mostly between 6 to 8 years old, pick these words up? Television…

The final exams for the academic year are coming to an end at last, and there is a palpable sense of excitement in the air. The summer vacation is tantalisingly close, beckoning with the prospect of long, homework-free hours for the children. Trek through forests in Sharavati valley. Pic: Meera K Over the years, summer holidays have lost their impromptu simplicity. Even as children gear up for the vacation, parents are at their wits’ end. Thanks to their busy schedules, working parents barely get to take some time off to visit their ancestral towns or even for a quick touristy…

"Put yourself in your teenager's shoes," the firm voice told an expanse of riveted ears, "but first remember to remove your own". Such were some of the profundities shared by Dr. Ali Khwaja, during his talk on raising teenagers earlier in March at the Parish Hall of Ascension Church in Bangalore's Cooke Town. aaaA Heart for the Youth: Dr. Khwaja elaborates his serious points in a most engaging way - with jokes, anecdotes and voice role-play. Pic: Jatin Prabhu Khwaja is a professional diploma-holder in Behavioural Sciences, and founder of Bangalore's Banjara Academy on interpersonal skills; his credible musings on…

Most kids I know in the age group of 6 year onwards attend at least two after-school activities in a week, be it sports, music, dance or drawing. Some attend four. Many activity classes are held twice a week, which leaves kids with precious little time for free, unstructured play.Are we over-scheduling our children's lives? Leaving them with little time for unstructured free play? File Pic It's a dilemma faced by many moms, including me. Our generation didn't exactly spend most evenings in tennis, ballet or basketball classes or our summers in swimming or science camps. Extracurricular activities have always…

Did you know that:* Over 300 million Indian citizens have no access to electricity?* Over one third of India's rural population lack electricity as do 6% of the urban population* We produce only 25% fuel of our total requirementThis is alarming. We complain when there is no power for even 1 or 2 hours - imagine the plight of villages which lack electricity.On 16th January, the Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) members of the United Dudes civic club of Delhi Public School, Bangalore South, conducted the "One Watt Project - Let's Save a Billion Watts" campaign to urge their…

At Puttenahalli Lake, we know the value of rainwater and its harvesting. After all, the only water that the lake receives is from rain.  Now here's a good opportunity for artists to help in promoting RWH and win some good prize money too!"Raindrops Geneva Award" is a competition organised by the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) to highlight the importance of this vital resource - rainwater - and its management. Participants from all over the world send in their entries, and after a vote by the jury, three prizes are given. The first competition, organised in 2007, awarded the poster that best…

I often wonder whether we are doing justice to our youngsters -- all open spaces are being ornamentally ‘gardened', ‘fountained', 'ticketed' and enclosed with barbed wires that are inaccessable to children. To give one or two concrete examples, there was a nice open space behind the HOPCOMS in Sadashivanagar that is surrounded by houses. There is also a nursery school in that area. I have been a resident in this neighbourhood the past 30 years and it pains me to see all the open spaces being taken away for either allotment to VIPs or converted into ornamental parks with tickets.…

On the 22nd of January, I met a friend for coffee in Indiranagar. Namrata is a new friend; we are still getting to know each other over our once-a-month cups of coffee. We spoke of current affairs (a largely demoralising conversation) and then, after coffee, she said that she would like to show me a public art project that she has been involved in and quite proud of. Something in her voice and eyes made me curious. Children painting the wall. Pic:Dhiraj Kacker We walked from the Gloria Jean's Coffee shop into Indiranagar's Defence Colony. A short walk into the…

Traffic Warden talks about road safety at Sherwood High School (pic: CMCA)Nearly 130 students from classes 2 to 7 in the age group of 7 years to 12 years of Sherwood High School on Bannerghatta road along with members of the civic club of the Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) celebrated the Safety Awareness Walk and Traffic Police Day on 7th January, 2013. Held between 9 and 11 am, the walk started with an inspiring and educative talk by P. R. Rao, Deputy Chief of the Traffic Warden organisation about the importance of road safety. Inspector Diwakar (Traffic) of…

If kids could learn their ABCs from mummy's smartphone, communicate with Talking Tom and hone their drawing skills with innumerable doodling apps, could this be far behind? An American firm has unveiled a new gadget at a tech meet called iPotty. Yes, it is very imaginatively named that, lest parents miss the point. iPotty is basically a potty seat with an iPad holder and waterproof cover, which gives the whole game of toilet training a technical spin. Using books to divert your toddler's attention while you make him stay put long enough to do the job? Or are you still…