Radio Show bulletin 1
Is there a need to talk about parenting?
People often wonder why the topic of Parenting has become popular today. Is this a new age fad? Generations of parents have raised their children without discussing techniques and tools. Do we think today's children are more difficult to manage or is the world we live in, a more complex and challenging one?
May be, just maybe, it’s all this and more!
Maybe, today's children are hard to manage as we parents demand and expect much more of them or maybe, the world has changed and we need to reinvent the way we parent. Or maybe we wish to parent differently from the way we were brought up.
Family, more than any other factor influences how a child turns out. Today, we have science available to us about how a child's brain is shaped by early experiences. And if this is the power of family, what are we as a society, doing to empower families in this task? Are families being supported with the knowledge and skills to raise children to be responsible, caring compassionate, self disciplined individuals?
So, yes we need to talk about parenting
So that:
· Every parent has access to a community of other parents and professionals with whom to learn and be supported in this all important task.
· Every child has parents who have been empowered with the information and skills to be able to create a nurturing environment
Have a look at these videos from The Centre for the Developing child, Harvard which show us videos how experiences with caregivers literally shape the architecture of a child's brain!
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/experiences-build-brain-architecture/
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/serve-return-interaction-shapes-brain-circuitry/
In these videos we see that what children need most for their optimum development is deep connection and warm caring relationships with caregivers.
So let’s bring discussions about parenting to centre stage, where they belong. Let's talk about what children need to thrive and develop their full potential. It will help us be the best parents we can be and help create the kind of society we want to live in.
Brain Fact:If you think of the brain as a human skyscraper, a child’s experiences in the early years are how the foundation is built. We all know what could happen if you build a skyscraper on a weak foundation; the same is true for building brains.
click here to listen to the recording of the show which was aired on Chennai Live 104.8 FM on November 20th, 2015.