When as high as 74 per cent children do not eat timely and 59 per cent keep away from any physical exercise, it presents a very dismal picture of life they lead. And this is a picture that emerges from no other place than the capital city Dhaka. A month-long study carried out jointly by the Paribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba), the Pallima Green Sangsad and the Martial Art Foundation on 1,451 students of two private and two public schools in the capital comes up with many such disconcerting habits and way of their life.
It is no surprise that 25 per cent of these children are underweight and eight per cent are overweight with 20 per cent suffering from various diseases including kidney and liver ailments. No eyesight problem has been mentioned in the report on the study carried in a contemporary. But the percentage of complaining poor eyesight and therefore becoming accustomed to spectacles from an early age is likely to be nearly cent per cent. In villages, this is an unheard of phenomenon. With television, cell phone and computer making their way into villages, the picture is likely to change soon. If children in a village are brought under study now and they are compared with similar age groups 20 years later, the difference will be all for to see.
What is a cause for serious concern is that children in the urban situation feel very lonely. Eight per cent would feel at ease when they are lonely and do not have to communicate with anyone. They spend most of their leisure time either on TV programmes -cartoons in particular, video or computer games, internet browsing, facebook or text messaging. The study further reveals that 18 per cent children are reluctant to cooperate with their parents in household chores, 59 per cent do not wash their own clothes and 22 per cent even do not keep their study table and books organised.
It is not known if the study made inquiry about students' preference for eating on their own or for making their mothers or someone else to feed them even when they are past the age of feeding by others. A sedentary life in such cases certainly takes its heavy toll. In most cases, their low stamina proves to be a hurdle to their taking challenges in life. They wilt under little pressure and when they are pressurised to study more, they develop a dislike for the academic life.
Clearly, their physical and mental development suffers a lot on account of undesirable habits and practices. They can never be enough sociable simply because of the many constraints they have to go through. Urban society with the mentality of 'each an island', is to blame for this. In a close community, this is simply unthinkable. But in an environment where a next-door neighbour remains mostly an unfamiliar person, this is bound to happen.
Sports and cultural activities can do away with such island mentality. But playgrounds and recreational facilities are conspicuous by their absence. Yet those serious about social bonding are not discouraged by such constraints. They somehow overcome the difficulties and reach out to people of the like minded in order to socialise.
When children prefer loneliness
Neil Ray | Published: April 11, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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