It will greatly improve the bonding with family, he says

VIJAYAWADA: Spending quality time with children is the most precious gift that one can give them and there is no substitute for it, says psychiatrist Vishal Reddy Indla.

Addressing a group of parents on the topic ‘Art of Parenting' at Bloomingdale playschool on Wednesday, Mr. Vishal pointed out that the parents of 21st century were facing more challenges in raising their children than those of previous generations. Till about 50 years ago these kinds of challenges were unheard of.

Stressing the importance of spending quality time with children, he said that it would greatly improve the bonding with the family and also act against some of the evils in the society. He suggested that the parents reward good behaviour of the children and disapprove bad behaviours as and when these occurred.

According to the psychiatrist, the days of studying only for the sake of examination and for marks became redundant. A child who could easily master multiplication need not necessarily be more intelligent in overall terms than a child who struggles to do so. The second child may be stronger in another kind of intelligence.

Elaborating on what constitutes intelligence and various scientific methods for measuring it, Mr. Vishal said merely scoring good marks was not an indication of intelligence. The ability to adapt to various situations, skills in language, communication, visual spatial areas, logical arithmetic and interpersonal skills were the important components of intelligence, he said.

Enthusiastic parents interacted with the psychiatrist and got their doubts and certain issues relating to their children clarified. Many parents sought to know the dos and don'ts of parenting.

Bloomingdale principal P. Nageswari and other teaching staff were present on the occasion.