BY MUZAMIL BASHIR
Children are an asset to the entire nation. Assets must be nurtured and protected. So, it becomes our collective responsibility to protect our children from any abuse, harm or violence and treat them with love, respect and dignity. We often ignite the debates and discussions about the aspects of mental health in adults. In these discussions, we miss the root of the problem, importance of mental health in children. We often pay less attention on mental health in our children. It becomes important to lay equal emphasis on the mental ambiance of the children.
Mental health of a child is defined as his emotional, psychological and social well being. The mental health plays a very important part in children’s overall health and well being. If a child is mentally unstable that child will not be psychically well also. The physical health of a child totally depends on his mental health.
Thus the mental health of a child must be noticed keenly because children cannot most of the times communicate about their inner feelings with even the closest of the people.
There are some basic signs by which we can detect the unstable mental condition of a child. The child may go through sudden mood swings. He will start over reacting on things or will become over aggressive. He will prefer to stay isolated and will give less attention towards the studies. The child will feel irritated most of the times and his self esteem will go low thus resulting in his overall behavioral changes. The life style of a child will abruptly change; either the child will sleep less or more, gain weight or lose weight, eat less or more. The child will start losing interest in the people around and will become less communicative. He will feel dejected and depressed and will get indulged in gratuitous things.
These are some basic symptoms of disturbed mental set up of child and needs immediate intervention especially by parents. The parents play a very important role in the mental wellness of a child. It becomes their prime responsibility to take their children in confidence and make sure the communication gap is filled between the child and parent. Most importantly they need to pay attention towards their children at times when they are craving for it and listen to them closely.
The child must feel safe and free in home environment. Their opinions and conversations must be respected. Their self esteem should be boosted by love and acceptance. A bridge of trust should be build at home to make child feel comfortable in sharing his problems. As flowers at home are treated carefully, the same treatment must be displayed towards children. They are like budding flowers that need to be looked after well by their caretakers.
The children are the future of nation. If our future is nurtured and groomed in a healthy and positive atmosphere only they can we dream of better future. We all need to work collectively for the best interests of our children so that our tomorrow is bright and beautiful. It is a battle that is in vogue and needs to be fought with full vigor.
The author works with Child Protection Services, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir and can be reached at: bashirmuzamil48@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.
