By Kavya Arjun, Grade 12
“You don’t know what is broken.”
In a deeply vulnerable discussion between panellists Dr. Pramit Rastogi, Shabnam Minwalla, and Dr. Tanu Shree Singh, parents and educators in the audience gained an understanding of how children have been affected by the pandemic, and consequently, how they must adapt their parenting styles to fit this new reality.
Dr. Pramit Rastogi began the talk by approaching the question, “How has the pandemic affected children of different age groups?”, from a clinical perspective. By breaking it down into categories—younger children, middle year children and older children—he described how each has undergone different changes despite having experienced the same pandemic. It gave parents valuable insight on how the experience of the pandemic was very, very different for each individual, and that is one of the first things they must understand when adapting their parenting styles.
Shabnam Minwalla tackled this same question from the viewpoint of a mother of three. By giving us personal anecdotes as well as expert advice, she gave parents a realistic idea of how she as a parent has changed. It was particularly heartening to see the panellists themselves reflect on their own parenting styles and acknowledge the mistakes they made. In a world where it has become increasingly easy for us to compare ourselves to supposedly ‘perfect’ people, it was incredibly heartening to see many of the parents realise that ‘good’ parenting has to include those raw, messy moments of life.
Parents and educators alike were very keen on understanding what they could do to adapt their parenting style and to find out exactly what had shifted after the pandemic. It was refreshing to hear the authors say to the audience that “You are a person first and a parent second.” With this one sentence, the panellists were able to lift a burden off the shoulders of many parents in the audience. Many audience members left the panel understanding themselves better; they realised that this self-awareness, in turn, would help them understand their children better.
It was an invigorating session, and although I am not a parent, I found the talk extremely insightful.
