How children are spending their summer holidays these days

Veena G | NT

Bengaluru: When we think back on summer holidays in the old days, we think about playing cricket, stacking huge rocks as wickets, or taking a football to play in an empty park – extended hours of playing badminton, kabaddi and lagori to the point of exhaustion. If someone was injured, the intensity of the game would be toned down as low as playing hide-andseek and ‘Antakshari’.

But these were days when digital technology had not infiltrated our lives as much as it is doing today. We talked to mothers with children from ages six to thirteen to know what their children are doing. Here’s what they had to say, Sharmila, a mother of two children aged eight and ten, is having a difficult time managing her children at home, full-time during long holidays.

‘My children are spending the holidays inside because of the scorching heat outside. Sometimes, my daughter's friends come over and we try to keep it cool by serving them hydrating drinks and letting them eat ice cream. When I am free, I join them in their games like word-building or storytelling. If I am busy, I will let them watch TV.’

Unlike her daughter, her son who is younger does not have many friends outside school. When Akshara is free, she teaches him to read so he can stay ahead in his upcoming school year. Otherwise, she opens up a children’s website called Up to Ten and lets him play there. Aarthi, a working mother to an eleven-year-old is concerned about her child’s screen time. In order to cut down on her screen time, she took her daughter to her cousin’s house.

‘Since both, the girls are of the same age, they get along well. Now that mobile phones are not in their hands, they watch a lot of television. For a long time, they’ve wanted to play card games but we did not allow them. Now I’ve taught them both how to play Hearts, they are too young to learn Rummy right away. They seem to enjoy it a lot. They have brought in their own quirks and alterations to it.’

On alternative days, the family watches movies on Amazon Prime together at night, and on weekends, they invite their daughter’s friends too. Vidhya, the mother of a nine-year-old restless son, takes her child out to the park in the mornings. ‘It is too hot to let kids outside after late mornings. I take him out on parks in the morning or evenings, he befriends other children quickly so it is of no worries.’

But throughout the day, she says, it is difficult to even feed him meals without having a YouTube video of his favourite show playing in the background. 'It is up to the parents to put in efforts to be more involved in the child's life and to show a life more interesting outside the screen, if parents are more present in their child's day, keeping them engaged, then you need not worry too much about phones and TV.'

Renuka, who has two sons aged 19 and 14, has been working as a beautician from her home for the past ten years. Her workplace has a window that looks out at a park where her son is from used to play with his friends when they were younger. ‘It was easy for me to supervise from here. When they were little, a drunken man once came inside the park at midday and scared the kids. I was able to quickly be present there and chase him away.’

But after the Covid-19 lockdowns, her children have taken preference to playing video games. The older son started earning through online game tournaments. ‘He says his college also sets up these tournaments, he earns money winning these. He once won a watch too. Who would have thought spending hours on PlayStation and monitors would get you money?’

The older son set up a game station corner in the house. The younger son brings his friends over and they all play it together. “It is a lot hotter outside so I cannot blame them, they are still playing together, and to me, that’s what matters,’ she says.