Eshan Maitra
Did you know, there is only two playgrounds in the whole Dhanmondi area? Again, most of parts are owned by Abahoni club, that only they get to use. Rest of the pace is big enough. But not big enough for 10 football and 15 or above cricket games at the same time.
Means, there are so many who wants to play but not enough space. Because of that some goes and make the Rabindra Sharabar the cricket pitch. Everyone gets so creative in making new rules to adapt with such little space they get. Rest of the Dhanmondi Lake is off limit for games, since it is pact with crowd most the times. There are also 3 badminton courts and another circle shaped space beside the open gym. But those are mainly for adults. The lake is the best and cheapest location of recreation for the people in Dhanmondi. Even none of the school in Dhanmondi has playground for the students. Except in the girl’s government schools, off limits for the public and the tiny Rayer Bazar High School.
It is also a common case for any other school in Dhaka. Again, Dhanmondi is one of the best area in Dhaka. There are even more worse children unfriendly places, like Moghbazar, Farmgate, Gulisthan etc.
Kids these days hardly get any physical activity. Lack of chance kills their encouragement as well. Since, there only a few playgrounds. No young kids get to visit there unless it is right beside where they live. Also parents do not allow their kids to the playgrounds if they cannot accompany them. They fear for children might get abducted. Even get bullied by or befriend with the low-class slum kids and learn bad habits.
Hence, it discourages the parents further more. This is why you will find more adults playing in these playgrounds than actual kids. Also a great place for doing drugs for them. Would you let your children go there alone?
I envy the Mohammadpur and Uttara Residential areas, and the government colonies. They have so many playgrounds!
It is practically heaven for athletic kids. The plans for playgrounds there are very simple. Just by, not constructing an apartment building in the middle of few other buildings. Sadly, that is changing too.
A recent construction project started in Azimpur colony. That will fill up 6 playgrounds in making of apartment buildings. This kind of things happening for a long time. There are very few playgrounds that was solely made as place for kids. Most the times it is some delayed construction project.
Like the ones in Uttara. People are already too busy protecting rights and rising movements for more important causes of necessity. Hence, these small things like speaking up for the kids’ playgrounds, getting unnoticed. Who will do it? The kids in primary schools? Unfortunately, with the mountain pressure of the academics even they hardly get any more time to waste in playing.
Most of the teachers these days and parents also highly discourage their kids from playing. There is always some quiz, tests and exam every week, every month. Coaching centers also have become like their 2nd school.
With all the homework and the peer pressures it is hard slice out a little bit of time for games. Even holidays become marathon for finishing the syllabus for the next semester’s curriculum. I don’t remember studying more than an hour or so in my times in primary school. I was a fairly good student in a very competitive school. Where I see my sister studying above 4 hours a day, excluding 3 other tuitions.
I feel sad for her. These kind for pressure kills their curiosity and dreams. Children become more mechanize than humanized in the process. Just look at Norway. Their kids only do academics about 2 hours a day and gets no homework. Also, their math teachers, primarily teach them to become a ‘happy person’ not complex overwhelming algebra. Then again, Norway has the best academic records and producing more highly skilled persons than any other countries in the world.
But the parents love their children, don’t they? Some also feel that their kids need some air sometimes. So, they turn to the easy solutions. They just buy a gaming computer or android for their children. But, did you know that researches found grinding games like ‘Clash of Clan’ are more addictive than heroine? Would you like this, if your kids grew some unhealthy obsession? Again what else can you do? Any other toys in Bangladesh are super expensive. Mainly because, even the little Spinning Tops are made in China, and all the Teddies come from India or Thailand. Electrical toys are most from China or Taiwan. Why don’t we have a single toy making company in our country? Exported things are sold at tenfold prices in Bangladesh, for absolutely no reason at all. Since, it is in our habit to easily appreciate something from abroad and criticizing anything from our motherland. So, it is way cheaper just to hook your kids with some OCD developing games. But the negative effects android usage at such young age does not only stop there. The spoiled pop culture also getting into them. Kids these days on the internet are such brats! Posing with girlfriends and writing lame slang rhymes. Specially, my jaw drops when I see some 10 years old posting on Facebook, “So many broken dreams.” Or “I got nothing to regret!”. What? Does your warm pee break your dream in the bed, every night?
Just by failing to ensure some simple form of entertainments for kids, we are destroying their future. Kids supposed to have fun, do silly stuffs and find out how booger tastes like now and then. Instead we are confining them in
such little boundary of knowledge. It is killing their curiosity and metal growth. Also their healthy physical growth. There are so many fat kids these days! Hence, we are killing their childhood. Yes, there are counter objections as well,
as I mentioned above. But we can find some alternatives too. Let the kids play in the goli and the small streets. We could make these off limits in the afternoon for an hour or two. Even just by moving away the waste-dumps can clean the space for them. Each apartment buildings garage should have a table tennis table or basketball court.
Or some yard like area, where little kids can ride their 3-wheelers. I have also seen many rooftops
these days covered with high nets, turned into an awesome space for football or cricket. The parents should encourage and come forward to make these happen. They can even introduce their children with musical instruments, singing, dancing or any other cultural activities.
If kids are busy with healthy activities, their minds will flourish. Childhood is the first step toward developing
humanity.
If we nip in the bud, disrupt their natural growth, this will only develop other complexity later in their lives.
So, let them have fun and enjoy the life more, when they are kids. Surely, they will never get such beautiful times in their life, when the adulthood hits.