Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A group of young engineers from the city have come together to make parents and children stress-free and happy. They have named their initiative, The Humming Child Project, with the tagline, Happy Parents, Happy Children.
The idea is to make parenting stress-free and to bring smiles back on children’s faces. For the parents, the group organises meetings on Saturdays and Sundays where discussions on issues related to parenting are held. Experts including nutritionists, clinical psychologists and educationists are invited to answer queries of parents and to guide them.
Some of the meetings in the past focused on - What kind of school is best for our children? Health, Nutrition and Food, Screen and Children: Challenges and Solutions and How do we handle stress in parenting. The project founders said children had nothing to worry about two generations back. Parenting was also less tough due to joint families where grandparents were also involved in bringing up children.
Nowadays, families have turned nuclear, both parents are working and the children are stressed - with schools, coaching classes, hobby classes. “We want to make both happy,” says group founder Shashi Bhushan Singh, adding, “Our ultimate objective is to develop an alternative system of schooling.. According to Twinkle Chauhan, a member of the group, there are many models of alternative schools proposed including Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and J Krishnamurti. “We need to study all of them,” she said.
