The other day, some obnoxious “talent show” was booming away on the idiot box in the living room. This one was for “Juniors” – i.e infants in the age group of 4 to 10. As I watched disgusted at the overdone makeups and outlandish costumes the kids were wearing and dancing away, my little niece (yes, she is glued to that show, and her parents are quite desperate on how to break her away from it) asked me, “Mama, is it needed to dress like this for dancing?”

An innocent question. But those of us reading this will instantly alert ourselves to a startling truth – kids cannot distinguish or discriminate. It does not matter whether it is between good or bad, necessary and unnecessary, pleasant and violent etc. At that age, they just accumulate information which they use to form their character later on in life. Period.

Under such circumstances, let us consider what we chose to beam into our living rooms 24 hours a day, 365 days an year. Adults fighting and cursing each other in the name of “talent”, chubby kids in garish makeup batting their eyelids and lisping to the judges if they did well, hulks of men beating each other to pulp and cursing in most unprintable languages, out-of-work (or, let us say, those just not having the talent to work) stars and starlets revealing their secret desires to hidden and overt cameras…the list is endless. Is it prudent by any yardstick to expose and ravage the innocence of a childhood to these acidic and abrasive influences?

Just to drive home the point. I was having an interesting discussion with a colleague of mine who was making a comparison of two nephews of his. One was mostly allowed to watch all these programs on the TV along with the elders in the house in the name of “helping him grow mature enough to decide and discriminate” for himself. The other was allowed to watch programs in a phased manner – i.e., his parents actively monitored his watching habits till he reached an age where they were sure that he was NATURALLY mature to assimilate, judge and decide. Even to all of us, the difference among the two teenagers was obvious. The latter had a careful, measured and informed opinion on matters with a matured demeanor.  The former was fidgety and edgy all the time, with an evasive nature.

A point to consider would be that in exposing our kids to such raw content, we are hastening the maturity of their minds without nature having been given a chance to correspondingly mature their understanding and wisdom.

While everyone is shouting hoarse about some kind of censoring body for monitoring the programs aired on TV, I think that parental counseling and control bears better results that can make an everlasting impact. Just like a sapling needs a support to grow straight and strong, tender minds of kids need support and guidance till they are into their teens. A little understanding and adjustment from parents themselves in this regard is sure to help in preparing a generation that is smart, wise and mature while being knowledgeable and confident at the same time.