Talking mental health with kids: Celebs highlight importance of balancing between being friendly and strict

Raising concern around mental health in kids, actors Gurdip Punjj, Ashish Chowdhry, Indraneil SenGupta and Juhi Parmar talk about how they manage their young ones.

Times are tough, indeed — both for adults as well as kids. While the pandemic already wreaked havoc on everyone’s mental health, the recent death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in shocking circumstances has got parents worried for their young ones.

Juhi Parmar says she always tells her daughter Samairra to just focus on trying hard.

It was reported that his death led to four minor children end their lives for different reasons, putting the focus back on how to educate children about mental health. Celebrities, too, share being concerned.

Actor Gurdip Punjj, a mother of two, Meher (10) and Mahir (5), shares that Rajput’s demise had affected her daughter. “Meher cried when she came to know about it. Later, she started asking me questions like why this happened? Why do people do this and so on. We’ve to understand that their mind is really fragile,” she says.

A healthy communication is the key. Actor Ashish Chowdhry who is raising his own kids Agasthya (10), Salara and Sammah (5), and his late sister’s children Kanishq (21) and Ananya (17), too agrees. Monica and her husband, lost their lives in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

“We need to talk to them often, answer their queries even when they ask simplest of things like why is the colour blue called blue or red called red. And then also discuss with them about career, love, life etc. The second thing is that one needs to explain things in a way that it sinks in. Also, it’s important to maintain that equilibrium between being friends with your children, and being strict,” he asserta.

The importance of failure in our lives needs to be understood is something that Juhi Parmar focuses on.

“In school, we teach our children about achievers but they should also be taught about others who tried but failed. When we play any game, Samairra (7) always wants to win. But I told her she needs to fight for it. If she wins, good, if she doesn’t even after trying hard she’s still a winner,” she adds.

Parmar feels that too much expectations can often bog children down. “Samairra’s career choices change every week. Now she wants to become a baker. She recently asked, ‘You don’t want me to become an actor right?’ I told her if you become one, I’d be happy or else I’d love to eat cakes baked by you,” she smiles.

Sometimes,actors feel keeping their children awry from the glamour world and limelight can also be a good way to let them feel normal.

Actor Indraneil Sengupta does something like that for his daughter Meera (8). “We want to bring her up like any other child. If there are differences between us, we make sure they don’t come out in front of her. She has limited screen time, channels and shows she can watch. No social media for her,” he says.

Sengupta shares that once Meera said that her school friends say she’s very stylish and her parents are millionaires.

“Children think like that about actors. So, Barkha (Bisht; wife) explained to her that we aren’t rich and that we have a sense of style. While we tell her when to study, we also let her to be herself. There’s no formula for parenting, you learn it on the job,” he ends.

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