January 15, 2017 at 1:17 am

This is a question which runs not only in the minds of many parents but also in the minds of the religious heads and the people who are at the leadership level of the religion and equally so in the minds of the common man. Here are some of the answers which I have come out after doing some thinking on this particular issue. While all the answers may not be applied universally and there will be exceptions but this is the trend. The same are being mentioned below.

1) The parents themselves are the main people responsible for this situation without  knowing that such a thing is happening in the family and the children are not being molded religiously, spiritually, morally and ethically. As this is not being inculcated since childhood. So they end up growing the many of them can be seen today.

2)Society, religious gurus, religious institutions have also been found lagging behind and are not rising to the changes and adapting themselves as the the new reality. Many of the gurus unfortunately end up doing one wrong thing or the other. This does not mean all are bad or inefficient. But as they say even one dirty fish is sufficient to spoil the whole pond. When this happens and press highlights the issue the good people who have been striving hard for the purpose of religion are also seen as suspect as this is the age of Kaliyuga. That is how things are. The bad people, cheats, frauds, useless characters get the  big posts by influence and the deserving ones suffer. Please observe this as a test and you will find the answers and their is lots of money and politics involved. This is a sorry state we have got into and must change soon.

3) The joint family system has broken and majority of them are nuclear families staying away from their grass roots villages and native places. So the bond and support structure which one is supposed to be growing with which lays a strong religious, spiritual and ethical base is uprooted and no more existing. So children grow cut off from their roots and this adds to the problem and increases it.

4) In the age of Kaliyuga vices which are supposed to exist like anger, selfishness, jealously, the attitude of not wanting to share, running after money at the cost of relationships and many other causes pollutes the minds of the parents themselves then how can the children be expected to behave exactly the opposite way as that of their parents. Today’s children see the parents and elders around and learn things and elders behave in a wrong way before children resulting in wrong parenting leading to such results.

5) One more important thing is generally both the parents are working as they have to make both the ends meet and they are in private jobs which are taxing and by the time they reach house it is too late even to cook most of the times. They end up buying unhygienic food which affects the mind, body and soul as the food is polluted and they consume this regularly. The children are addicted to this too and parents do not want to say no. So they indulge in some sort of bribery saying “If you are a good child and behave well I will buy you this or that in the evening”. After a certain parents are helpless as children are totally addicted to junk food.

6) Children during their young age need emotional bonding as well as physical presence of at least one parent as their minds are growing fast. There has to be one parent to take care of them and do the parenting needs but this is not possible as running the house needs more money. So you have both of them going to work and children going to school before them and coming home after six to seven hours or even ten hours as some parents keep tuition classes and the house is locked and the children are given a key which is very risky. There is no support group present from the religious leaders nearby as how temples exist. So children are without parents from seven in morning to almost seven in the evening left unattended. This will lead the child to get addicted to bad habits in the absence of parents and also affect them psychologically which parents will not be knowing till problem knocks at the door one day.

7) Unfortunately the whole world is now polluted so the mind of the children and the parents too. There is no cleansing in the form of a regular ritual done to mind, body and soul. So our minds become like a uncleaned garbage dump. Their are many places where the child goes alone like school van, spending time during the breaks in the school and again while coming back and staying alone in the house with house locked from inside till parents come totally unattended. Which is very dangerous as this is the age of information revolution and there is a flood of negative news which impacts the child and parents will not notice. They are also left on the roads unattended to play.

8) There is no proper regimented prayer, pooja, yoga, meditation or any such kind performed by the family daily. So there is no way a toxic mind can get cleaned and negative thoughts can be removed and reformed and positive reinforcement done. Which is the need of the hour. All this requires time and patience which majority of today’s generation lacks as they do not eat good food, breath good air, are bombarded by negativity and peer pressure which parents do not have time to listen and do not have the patience for bhakti by which they can get the required shakti for performing day to day actions effectively.

9) The immunity systems and the system in which a child is born, fed, nurtured, grows, plays and studies and sleeps is all filled with pitfalls at each and every place it applies to adults too. When such thing happen leave alone bhakti or religion the child and the adults will not be able to do their day to day work in a  effecient way and  they will lack stamina, memory power agility, have low immunity and will get unwell frequently hence will not go to school regularly. Growth in education, social skills,  physical activities, interpersonal skills and interactive skills all these get affected. Such people cannot grow into spiritual, religious and people with high moral intellect as they have not reached that stage and their is no tonic or inputs which need to be given by parents which is really properly given. So why will they be religious minded, fearless and stand up for what is right as they are fearful and lack self confidence.

10) Today’s children grow through lots of more tension than what we went through the world today is extremely stressful and this gets to their mind and slowly life becomes a routine as there are no healthy breaks, food or games in the real sense or if breaks are given lots of home works or project works are given and deadlines too are given. With all these stress and no family, parental, spiritual, moral, mental, physical, societal support the child becomes lonely, depressed, behaves in a indisciplined way, becomes irritated, angry, down with fatigue, weak. Effectively the childhood is crushed under different pulls and pressures from various quarters.

Now that you may me able to get some picture of what is happening. I hope a strategy is worked out, enacted, implemented and further developed to see that we have children who are growing into strong individuals like Swami Vivekananda. At least an attempt can be made there may be many Hindu organisations who may already doing work on this issue, but it has to be a long term all India effort. They are a big human resource of the country and we cannot afford to have a weak  base of human resource to take up the challenges which lie ahead in the distant future. A macro economic planning is required which should be result oriented and effective and will deliver results in the long run. This has to be planned and implemented since childhood inculcating the Hindu way of life. This has to be done for a strong, safe, healthy, wealthy and prosperous India which we all desire our country to be. Do we not?