MUMBAI: Children’s Day is celebrated worldwide on different dates, however in India it is celebrated on 14th November. It also happens to be the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister- Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. And as he was extremely fond of children, Nehru’s birthday was declared as Children’s Day. However, the bigger purpose of celebrating Children’s Day globally is to ensure their safety. With this reason in mind, Radioandmusic.com contacted a few RJs to find out their ideas on a brighter future for children in the country. 

RJ Danish: Today’s children will become tomorrow’s responsible citizens or criminals. Therefore, kids should be brought up in a way that they do the right things for the society in large. They should respect others and also empathise with them. They should be more driven towards having a happy life than interfering in other people’s business. They should be given more worldly knowledge, rather than religious because anything that is institutionalised can be dangerous. And most people misinterpret religion. Children also learn a lot from their parents, so if the father breaks a signal they learn the same. Thus, we need to set examples for our kids.  

RJ Bhavna: Children should not just be limited to formal education. We need to give them practical knowledge about first aid, bank work, etc. The truth is that most formal education does not come in use in real life, thus, understanding of practical concepts is important.

As far as underprivileged kids are concerned, we must try and run classes at an individual level for them in our free time. This is something that I did a few years ago. Apart from that one should also help these kids by motivating them to take up hobbies. They should be given musical instruments or sport items if they are inclined to those things. 

RJ Jimmy: One of the most important things is to not let a child sleep hungry. We can talk about educating them, but how will a kid with a growling stomach concentrate on studies. Once the hunger issue is solved, you can focus on education and then extend it in the future. One person cannot do much, but if every family cooks an extra meal a day for a kid on the street, very few will sleep on an empty stomach.

This Diwali, we managed to collect 1200 kg of sweets for underprivileged kids. In fact, during winter we have plans to collect pullovers for these children as well.

As far as the government is concerned I believe they should provide decent housing to the people on streets. A housing facility will lead to better hygiene for these children. 

RJ Siddharth: A lot of NGOs and institutions are working towards educating underprivileged children, but the rate of drop-outs is extremely high. I believe there has to be collective engagement of the families. Plus there has to be some tangible benefits attached to them; something that will motivate these kids to study. Moreover the syllabus needs to be made a bit more interesting for these children. There should be more paper art, music, painting, etc. Typical classroom study turns them off because the ground reality is very different for them. Even after all of this, these kids will need to be pushed to continue studying for at least four to five years.   

RJ Anirudh: In today’s world parents do not have time for their children. They showcase their love for their children by buying them fancy stuff. But the important thing is to instill values in them. And the parents should always have a watchful eye on their children. They should also be able to understand their issues and solve them tactfully. A lot of times kids safety is jeopardised due to too much freedom. Hence, they should be given freedom, provided they are taking up its responsibility.

On the other hand, the government should take care of their education and health. The government should provide children with health insurance till the age of 18, if possible.

RJ Dilip: We should allow kids to grow with their own understanding and potential. However, we must also guide them with our share of experiences. We should also educate them about sex and other things that they must know about in their growing years. Lack of knowledge too leads to a lot of curiosity and that can land them in trouble. By educating them one can avoid most of it. One of the most important things that parents should do is talk to kids at the end of the day. Communication helps solve a lot for kids. 

Basic education is the most important thing for underprivileged kids. The government is working towards it, but we as individuals too, should make some time and help these children.