Early Times Report
Jammu , Sept 27: Former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta today emphasized that story telling is important for children’s mental growth amidst the digital learning in the modern world. Referring to Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme being assured on radio, the senior BJP leader said that there has been a thriving tradition of telling stories in India. A big advantage of storytelling is that listening to stories enhances a child’s vocabulary, he added. “We have grown up on stories narrated to us by our grandparents, parents and other elders in the family. They were the good old days when our elders took us on fantasy journeys with their tales — the wit of Birbal, the righteousness of the Pandavas, the stories of Vikram and Betaal etc. Those were the stories that helped us learn some important lessons of our lives. They taught us about the good and bad and also had a hand in making us the people we are as grownups.” “Studies have proved that infancy is the period when children absorb most of the words that they later use in their lives. So, telling stories even to infants should be an important part of a parent’s schedule. When they grow up, storytelling encourages and enhances the listening skills of children. Usually, children like to talk more rather than listen and this behaviour is evident especially in classrooms — they are not usually good listeners. But when a habit of listening to stories is inculcated in them, they learn to become better listeners. It provides them the necessary training to listen and understand more, instead of talking,” Gupta said.
However, now, with technology invading our lives like never before, nuclear families and working parents overpowering the social set up, the art of story-telling has become rare,” the former Deputy Chief Minister said.
The former Deputy Chief Minister appreciated the Prime Minister Narendra for his creative idea and said that this will play a vital role in the development of children’s growth. He appealed to the people of the country to make their children aware about the role played by the freedom fighters for country’s independence. |
