Having a hero to look up to plays a very important role for children, and this role often extends even when they have stepped into the realms of adulthood. These heroes serve as role models, to whom they can look up to, and who can guide them in the right direction when unavoidable ambiguities arise in life.
In today’s age and time, environmental heroes are the heroes our world needs! In fact just like them, environmental protection should be our priority as well. After all, it is necessary to have a healthy, amicable and a nurturing society around us in the first place. Especially now.
Why environmental awareness is important for kids?
One of the major concerns that parents have these days is that kids today do not “step out” enough. While an increased use of gadgets promises convenience, somewhere along the line this has led to a confusion between the real and the virtual world.
Adults to a considerable extent are able to separate the two, but for many kids, the virtual world has become their reality. Thus, simple joys like taking a walk, maintaining a garden, playing with peers in a park or even enjoying a sunrise are not considered enjoyable anymore.
A strong bonding with the environment on the other hand will ensure that kids find themselves to be a part of the real world, and are better geared to find their way around it.
How to make kids environmentally responsible?
There is no doubt when we say it is the kids of today who will be in charge of the world tomorrow, and as a corollary, will be responsible for it. In our capacities as supervising adults, as their teachers, their parents, their siblings, and simply as someone in their vicinity, it becomes our moral duty to steer them towards the right path.
From a psychological point of view, it has been discussed innumerable number of times about how a child’s mind is highly impressionable. This can be validated if one were to carefully observe any kid around them in day to day life. Their behaviour is predominantly governed by the experiences they have in their classroom, what their favourite TV characters are like, how their siblings act around them, or how their favourite superhero behaves.
As per UNICEF, investment in early childhood development is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve educational achievement and to increase skills, capabilities and productivity.
Only when we take steps to make our children conscious about the environment around them, will they start owning up to it. This imbibed sense of accountability leads to an improved emotion of harmony towards their surroundings.
Think of it this way; when children know that they are actually responsible for the environment, they will start feeling a sense of unison and belonging towards it, and become more careful. This will result in a snowball effect, subsequently leading to more responsible and sensitive adults, who share an active bond with the world that they are a part of.
A certain amount of effort has already been made in this direction. However, this needs to seep in at a deeper level than staying at the peripheries. Children should not feel that it is something that is being imposed upon them externally, but rather something that they themselves feel internally motivated to do. Thus, while our classrooms and textbooks touch upon this topic, triangulating the message from different channels will make a deeper impact.
Kids can be encouraged to read environmental books, or watch cartoons that revolve around the topic. Reiterating the fact that kids look up to superheroes with an aspiration quotient, and try to emulate their behaviour. Therefore, the protagonist of a story can be a trend-setter for kids. Aychu is one such superhero, who is driven and passionate about saving the environment.
Along with her friends, she courageously faces adversities and resolves environment-threatening matters. Reading about Aychu and her adventures will ascertain that the kids are having fun while grasping the essence of the lesson that is being taught to them. Who knows, one day they might come across someone planning to build a multi-storey parking space on their favourite park, and they would be struck by the thought – “What would Aychu do?”
Aychu’s E-comics are available on the following platforms – Google Play, Amazon, iBooks Store, Kobo and subscribe to our YouTube channel for the upcoming webisodes. Parents and educators can also stay up to date with the latest news about the green superhero by subscribing to Aychu’s regular blogs, and following her on Facebook and Instagram.
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