Inculcating Deeper Familial Bond

Dr. Pavan Kumar J. V. S 

School Director

Hegemony Global School

Dr. J. V. S. Pavan Kumar is the Founder Director of Hegemony Global School, Bengaluru.

With a Masters Degree in Education, he has been one of the frontrunner educationists for almost two decades now. His career is the recipient of many awards, recognitions and certifications. ‘National Achievers Award’- bestowed by National Achievers Recognition Award (NARF), New Delhi, the ‘Radhakrishnan Sadbhavana Award’ and ‘Global Principal Award’ are some of them. Certified by the esteemed CAIE (Cambridge Assessment International Education), Dr. Pavan is also a is a Rashtriya Shiska Ratan Awardee.

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With the growing interference of technological innovations and advancements that are proliferating in our daily lives, their subtle impact on the psycho-sociological development of the younger population has become pernicious and increasingly overwhelming. Over the last few decades, our children’s community has undergone a significant transformation in values and perspectives, largely driven by this technological deluge. 

With the opening of our doors to globalisation and exchanging economic and political benefits with other world powers, India has emerged to break the shackles of ‘A Developing Country’ and establish itself as a formidable power on the global stage. Additionally, when viewed on a broader scale, the entire world has undergone technological revolutions on an astronomical scale and at an unprecedented speed. And why must it not? But the question is, is the world ready to absorb its impact, which is a mixed bag of both boons and bane for the younger generation? The Impact of Technology The scale at which technology impacts their lives is immeasurably larger than our limited ability to comprehend its effects, both good and bad. The way it affects a child’s life is based on the metrics of intensity, scale and time. Some technological innovations have a high intensity and bring about irreversible changes. In contrast, others impact a large portion of our population, and still others bring about changes that cannot be quantified on temporal levels. They subtly modify the contours of a child’s socioeconomic behaviour, without any apparent red flags or warnings.  The role of family India as a country has a rich cultural history of family values and deep –seated traditions. We have been known as firm believers in the concept of — ‘Family’, a concept as sacrosanct as one’s own country. The tenets of family life have been taught to our children since their formative years. While the concept of ‘Nuclear Family’ in India has picked up off late, the joint family system has witnessed its existence from time immemorial. Quite remarkably, the older generation of elderly are the most inseparable part of the concept of ‘Family’ and form the crux of the socio-cultural edifice of the country.   As time elapsed, the concept of ‘Family’ and the appropriate moral treatment of elders, with profound love and care has eroded. The home and work environs were engulfed with technological interference. Also, today’s generation is overtly occupied in making both ends meet or is disproportionately attracted to materialistic ends of life. The aftermath? It’s the elderly and family time that has borne the biggest brunt. Children’s life has now been singularly defined by gadgets, gizmos, video games, social media apps and many more. To add to the list, it’s the work commitment, sometimes it’s the personal errands, or many a times the lack of will to spend time with our elders in the family set up. The younger generation therefore seldom get the bright chance to sit with their parents and grandparents as one big family. The support system The elder generation is the support system in a family where children have working parents. The elderly, despite stheir emaciated bodies and spirit, are prime caretakers of children with working parents. Children going on evening strolls with grandparents, reading newspapers together, spending leisure time in the park, sharing a shopping bag for elders has almost become a thing of the past. Is it a lost cause? No, if we have the real inner calling of making the younger generation understand the importance of concepts as ‘Family’ and ‘walk the talk’ by our deepest engagement with elderly at home, there can be a silver lining of hope. 

Let us resolve to mitigate the harmful effects of technological progress and sieve its positive utilisation and impact to enable a more secure and resilient sociocultural milieu for our children. Let us resolve to inculcate deeper familial bonds and provide our children to grow up in an organic environment rather than a manufactured world of artificial intelligence and digital social platforms. Let us construct a strong foundation of traditional and cultural values that allows our progeny to become champions of unifying human values and integrity.