CH News
Children today risk losing their imagination and creativity due to excessive dependence on gadgets, video games, and fast-food culture, cautioned Chief Minister’s Media Advisor K.V. Prabhakar. He was speaking at the inauguration of Children’s Fair, jointly organised by the Press Club and Bal Bhavan. Prabhakar lamented that while home was once considered the first school, Today the mobile phone has become the first school. City children, he said, are increasingly disconnected from soil, outdoor games, and the storytelling traditions of grandparents, leading to a decline in creativity. Instead of crafting their own toys, they are surrounded by plastic and battery-operated playthings that blunt their imagination.
Warning against the growing cultural politics of consumerism, he said children’s diets have shifted from traditional foods like ragi rotti and mudde to pizzas, burgers, and donuts. This is a dangerous cultural trend we must think about seriously, he stressed. Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, who envisioned Jawahar Bal Bhavan as part of a blueprint for national progress, Prabhakar said: Children are like buds in a garden. Only with care and affection will they grow into responsible citizens. He further noted that video games alienate children from family and society, instilling aggression, intolerance, and violent tendencies. Actors Arun Sagar and Meera, Bal Bhavan Chairman B.R. Naidu, Secretary Nischal, and several journalists were present at the event.