Krrish era kids are smarter than thought

AFTER HOLLYWOOD'S 'Superman', Bollywood's 'Krrish' has ushered in the season of superheroes, again. Superheroes, whose antics have always caught on the imagination of young minds. Be on comic books or flying across the silver screen, these superheroes have been ruling the roost, always.

AFTER HOLLYWOOD'S 'Superman', Bollywood's 'Krrish' has ushered in the season of superheroes, again. Superheroes, whose antics have always caught on the imagination of young minds. Be on comic books or flying across the silver screen, these superheroes have been ruling the roost, always.

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And 'Krrish', the latest from Rakesh Roshan's kitty is no exception.

Unfortunately, whenever in the past, any of the superheroes took the stage, it has to be followed by the news reports stating that children in a bid to prove that they too have the supernatural 'shakti', have ended up injuring themselves. At times, the results have been more sordid.

With 'Krrish' entering into week four and happily no such incident being reported so far, the question arises: Are kids changing?

Have they become smart enough to separate fact from fiction?

Ask Rima, a 10-year-old studying in Class IV: "It's silly to copy the act of the superheroes. Neither me nor my friends have ever had that inclination. We see the movies for enjoyment and not to break legs.

His mother, Payal Singh asserts, "Both my son and daughter are thankfully mature enough. I didn't have to even discuss with them that copying 'Krrish' is possible.

Rima's neighbour in Ashok Nagar, Aruna first came in contact with superheroes when Spiderman was released four years ago. She was so impressed by his antics, that she would jump from the window sill and climb the windows.

Repeated warnings from her parents could not dissuade her and in the end her parents had no choice but to keep a constant eye on her. Luckily she did not get hurt.

But today when you tell her about all this, she draws a long face and asserts, "I was a kid then. But now I will never do all that. It is dangerous and I have seen reports on TV that have opened my eyes."

Five-year-old Anam Aziz is yet to display Rima's level of 'maturity', but even then she is very conscious about her own safety. "I like the superheroes.

They can fly, they can jump. There are times when I copy them. But I do not do things that can hurt me. Usually, I use my sister's sketch pen to draw the mask and I just hop on the floor."

"There has been a marked increase in the collective IQ level of children," says Ronit K Singh, a psychiatrist,"They are exposed to a lot of things, get balanced nutrition and hence their IQ is more developed, he adds.

He, however, also adds that there is nothing wrong if the kids get positively influenced by superheroes.

"They might learn to be helpful and caring. It is only when they start to copy the stunts and get hurt in the process, that superhero phenomenon takes a sordid turn," he reveals.

But that can be checked. A little awareness can go a long way. Thankfully, today's kids have enough common sense to separate the wheat from the chaff.