Expert Talk: Parenting term of the year

From finding it difficult to handle your child’s tantrums to drowning in the exam stress along with your child, from religiously trying to guard those little eyes from online addiction to worrying yourself crazy over school safety, from being shocked and scared of the absurd Blue Whale online challenge to finding out ways to cultivate empathy in your child… the list is endless.

Just about a week ago we received a letter from a distressed parent struggling to handle her five-year-old son’s temper tantrums. She was in desperate need of help and guidance as she had no idea how to manage the situation. From being upset to whining, to weeping, to shouting, and then throwing himself on the ground with rage, kicking, and hitting his head on the floor! Her child was displaying classic symptoms of temper tantrums. As a parent you cannot dissolve into thin air or pretend nothing is happening, especially when your little one is throwing tantrums in the public.

Similarly, a news that made headlines for all the wrong reasons was the Blue Whale online game. The malicious challenges that the game offered egged children on to set aside their reasoning powers and prove themselves at the cost of their own lives. The Blue Whale fever had gripped children not just in India but world over. Self harm, teenage depression, and alarming increase in the number of suicide cases among children have become worrying trends.

How can we forget the utterly unfortunate incident that happened in Ryan International School, Gurgaon? Murder of Pradyuman Thakur, a Class 2 student, is unnerving. And to make things worse, the latest news is that the CBI is investigating a 16-year-old student of Class 11 for the heinous crime. Child safety is indeed one of the biggest parental concerns. The incident was a nation-wide wake-up call for parents to assess the security threat to their children in schools, and their legal rights to be protected by the school.

Parenting is no easy job, and there are no off-the-shelf solutions to parenting issues. One must constantly be open to information, be aware of what’s happening around, express, learn and share. So, what are your observations on the biggest parenting trends this year? What are the key parenting terms that top your list?

We did our survey and came up with the following terms that made it big this year. It’s time for you to vote for your choice of the ‘Parenting Term of the Year’! The options are — Blue Whale, Tantrums, School safety, Empathy, NEET exam, Exam Stress, Digital Parenting and Big Boss and kids.

Let us ring in 2018 as the year of the confident parent and the confident child.

Happy New Year and happy parenting!