Letter: For careful parents, covid-induced helicopter care has an extraordinary adverse effects on parental-child relationships, and in many cases, which leads to very unwanted consequences.
That’s how old people who were surprised who lived in the Parle Point area were shocked to explore that their underage sons were smoking.
In counseling, class XII students revealed that he began smoking as a rebellion after his mother did not allow him to meet with a girl he liked in his neighborhood, or his friends because of his fear of Covid.
The letter counselor witnessed many cases of teenagers who drank cigarettes or narcotics, could not process new normal from staying at home.
“Children do not spoil a lot of physical activity because of online classes and they spend most of their time on cellphones.
So occasionally when they meet their friends who are addicted to smoking, they also take it as an outlet,” said Hien Choksi, an advisor based city.
He further said that parents previously thought when children were not at home, but in the current situation, the fight occurred in front of them.
“And to find a way to distract, children use experimenting with addiction,” he added.
Those who just entered college would go further because they found an escape through psychotropic substances.
“I have dealt with at least five children, who are addicted to marijuana, every day.
In the past four months there has been a surge in patients compared to the period since the pandemic struck,” said Maya Psychiatral Aggarwal.
He added that marijuana easily and cheaply available that captivated teenagers.
The police agreed too that addiction had increased among adolescents and students as vendors admit to having their large customer base among these groups.
“When children stay connected to cellphones without adult supervision, they consume all types of content that affects these habits.
We have witnessed during our police activities that such habits became FAD,” said a police officer.
Counselors like child psychologists, Aarti Bundela, feel that although it is difficult to get rid of addiction, the younger ones can be easily taken out of it, especially by good parents.
“Children can be taken out of addiction through the right counseling and support from parents at home.
If parents have a transparent dialogue and enjoy constructive activities, children will not be expelled,” Choksi added.