Delhi: At IIC This Weekend, Event To Help Reimagine Parenting

In an attempt to redefine parenting, a group of experts, including parents, teachers, psychologists, counsellors, therapists and medical practitioners, will come together under one roof to talk about raising children amid modern challenges faced by parents. IMAGINE 2019, being organised by the child and mental health institute called Children First, will see conversations around the theme, ‘parenting with courage’.

The event will take place at the India International Centre from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, and will be open to all.

On the aim of the programme, Shelja Sen, co-founder of Children First, said: “In the present age, parenting has acquired many layers of complexity because of changes prompted by digital media, changes in family structures, the pressure to succeed, and a dwindling sense of community. Many times, parents feel disconnected and are alienated, criticised and blamed for not being good enough. We want to talk about how important it is to understand parenting from a different perspective. We want to redefine parenting and make people see that it’s the society’s collective responsibility to raise a child.”

The institute collaborated with Teamwork Arts to start to IMAGINE in 2018. “Last year, the theme was around building an emotionally safe space for children, wherein parents spoke about early childhood. This year, we are talking about neurodiversity, stories of courage, and commitment required by parents. Next year, we will focus on schools, and in 2021, we will have an international event highlighting the narrative practice,” said Sen.

While IMAGINE 2018 was about sharing ideas and practices on making the world emotionally safer for children and the youth, it aims to go a step further this year — by starting a conversation on a call for action to see children as the society’s collective responsibility.

People who will speak at the event include Merry Barua, director of Action For Autism, National Centre for Autism; Sanjoy Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts; Vidya Reddy, executive director of Tulip Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse; Jagdish Mahapatra, international expert on cybersafety and managing director of CrowdStrike; Arjun Mathur, lead actor in Made in Heaven; Amit Sen, director and co-founder of Children First; Kavita Arora, child and adolescent psychiatrist and co-founder Children First; and Aditi Chaudhary, a mother who lost her child to pulmonary fibrosis which inspired the film, The Sky is Pink.

Source: The Indian Express