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Journalism of Courage
The powerful media of information and communication turn attention towards children’s cause only when a kid falls into a well,rued Sharmila Tagore,film actress and Censor Board of Film Certification chairperson,speaking at the UP Media Schools Summit on Child Rights Education at Amity University,Lucknow on Thursday.
Citing an example,the mother of film stars Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan said,Once when Saif was a kid,I quietly switched on the tape recorder as he went on talking at the dining table. It was when I heard the recording that I realised that I had not paid attention to many things he said. This is what we doeven when we hear them,we don’t listen to children and that is the reason much remains to be done in the area of child rights.
She regretted the soft target media and advertising had found in children,influencing them to control buying decisions of the family and turning them into a subject of melodrama for TRP.
It is the classic example of the egg-came-first-or-chicken poser. You patronise programmes like Balika Vadhu and they give you more. Why don’t the big production houses turn champions of child rights and do something substantial,not superficial,about it, she said.
She recalled how when she switched over from Bengali medium of education to English,one Sister John Baptista (who also taught at Loreto Convent,Lucknow for a long time) tutored her perseverantly till she became conversant with the Queens language. It is only when children get such undivided attention and such dedicated grooming that their potential is optimised, said Tagore,who began her acting career at a tender age. She was equally critical about the trend of reality shows on TV that were giving rise to incongruous aspirations among children.
At the Censor Board we can only rate films and give them a certificate along with recommendations. We cannot ideate for or present concepts to the producers, said the actress,choosing to speak exclusively on the topic of child welfare,sharing information about the cornea implant cause to which she gives most of her time,besides to the cause of the education of underprivilged children in the family estate,Pataudi.
Director General Amity KK Ohri said they were in the process of introducing the subject of Child Rights Education to their curriculum.
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