Dhaka: Parents should be careful about their children’s mental health by creating a supportive home environment, maintaining open communication, and regularly assessing their child’s well-being, experts said.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, this includes nurturing a strong parent-child relationship, ensuring consistent routines, and encouraging healthy social connections. If concerns arise, parents should partner with their child’s doctor for screenings and professional guidance, and seek help without stigma if needed. Most parents do not pay attention to the mental growth of their children, they also said.
In their opinion, if a child is not growing up mentally, they will ultimately become a burden for the family, society, and country. So, parents should be careful about the mental health of their children. They said there are two parts in health-physical and mental. After birth, a child generally grows physically and mentally. However, parents usually look after the physical condition of their children while ignoring their mental health.
To make a healthy nation, the mental growth of a child is imperative. The contribution of parents and family is crucial for the mental development of children. If a parent is more conscious, their children will be fit mentally and become better citizens. However, generally, parents in the country are always conscious about the physical fitness of their children, focusing on their children’s food, clothes, and treatment for physical well-being. Despite this attention, parents are often indifferent to the mental growth of their children.
After birth, a child first gets close to its mother, then becomes acquainted with their father, family members, teachers, and friends. The children grow up mentally by learning from the behaviors they observe from others. Children often ask questions like “what’s this?” or “what’s that?” and answers to these questions teach them a lot mentally. However, many parents or relatives feel disturbed by a child’s curiosities and tend to stop their children from questioning, which hampers the mental growth of a child. Such behavior can be a barrier to mental development.
Children learn from their families and surrounding atmosphere. A mental base created in childhood helps them become mentally strong and self-sufficient, turning them into valuable resources for the country. A friendly atmosphere is the best way to teach children both inside and outside the home.
Experts highlighted cases like Adib, who became a drug addict following the negative behavior of his mother after his father’s death when he was 13, despite his parents being educators. Similarly, Nadia, from a middle-income family, did not complete her education due to conjugal brawls at home, despite having the facilities to achieve higher education.
Children’s environments should be orderly and disciplined, and people should avoid vindictive, spiteful, or cruel acts in front of children, as childhood is the main stage for learning. Learning negative behaviors at a primary stage in life can be detrimental for the rest of their life.