A majority of parents these days are over-protective about their children. They assume that, as parents, they know what is best for the child, instead of allowing the kids to be themselves. This, Dr. D. Srinivasan says, can leave children frustrated.

Dr. Srinivasan currently serves as consultant psychiatrist with one of the leading hospitals in the city. He is the Tamil Nadu president of the Indian Psychiatric Society. He was addressing a gathering of children, parents, and grandparents in Coimbatore recently. The focus of his talk was on parenting. “Parents must teach their children to be positive and optimistic about life. Secondly, parents must also teach their children how to face and overcome difficulties in life,” he said.

He added that children these days are over-protected. Only when the kids are moved out of their comfort zone will they learn how to face and overcome the challenges that life throws at them.

The consultant psychiatrist then moved the focus to the changing times. He said that life was simple and peaceful when he was a child. He told his audience how he grew up watching only Doordarshan channel. Currently, he said, children have access to a plethora of channels and no quality content.

“The environment is different. Children these days are exposed to various forms of technology. This also adds on to the levels of stress the kids have to go through. This, in turn, impacts the quality of life the child lives,” Dr. Srinivasan said.

Talking about the current quality of life, he pointed out that if we are not mentally happy, we will not be able to enjoy our physical health. His audience burst into laughter when he said, “Cinema theatres are running out of business. Ironically, operation theatres are running house-full business these days.”