As I watched the scene of preparing this elephant for a bath, Many memories come back to me of conversations that parents have with me about the behaviour of children! I hear parents who use the word, 'insistence' or 'resistance' when their children do not care enough to 'listen' to them or 'obey' to use their words.
What I saw with this elephant introduced to me a new consciousness. The elephant was given a luxurious breakfast and led to the bathing place. The elephant chose to do all that was necessary, while the mahout guided the elephant through all the stages of the bath. The officers watching this was ensuring that the elephant was 'treated' well in an animal friendly way!
I am yet to get a sense of the 'child friendly' way which parents are happy to follow at home! Most of the things which children are expected to do are conditioned by the schedule and convenience of parents.
I have this disturbing question with me! How much of our home environment or facilities are reoriented to attend to the needs of children! I long to see at least some homes where a child has a designated corner in the ouse, where his toys, books, and collections are kept for him to have access and use them at his or her choice. Sometimes even older children share the bed of parents and continue co-sleeping!
Human behaviour, especially of children is a response to his or her environment. A child adjusts a lot! Do the parents think about the adjustments which children are made to make due to the reduced attitude towards the needs of children!
My mission is to make parents and children grow in their spaces while being respectful of each other's space!
I suspect that just as we keep a well behaviour rating for children to monitor their behaviour give them feed back to optimise their behaviour, we need a well behaviour rating for parents as well!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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