Parents hand over a smartphone to their child to keep them quiet if they are shouting or running around, Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner Andalib Elias said at a programme to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of Children’s Little Theatre.
The guest of honour on Monday evening was addressing an audience that comprised many parents at Aban Mahal.
Children’s Little Theatre (CLT) trains kids from the age of 4 to 17 in dance, painting, recitation, singing, drama, table tennis and skating.
“We have seen how parents hand over smartphones to their children to keep them occupied and quiet so they do not run around and disturb them,” said Elias.
While art nurtures creativity and talent, sports helps them become team players and develop leadership skills. “That vision is getting hampered... and parents are evading their responsibilities by giving phones to their children,” he said.
“It is natural for children to be noisy and annoying. But by giving them smartphones, parents are only taking away from them the strength of socialisation. My request to parents is that children be allowed to live normal lives and not one through mobile phones,” said Elias.
In 1951, Samar Chatterjee started the institution with the name Rhythm and Rhymes. A year later, the organisation was registered as Children’s Little Theatre.
Children perform at the programme.
A key factor in CLT’s success was its founder’s ability to attract talent to the institution and create an atmosphere that encouraged creativity.
“We are trying to hold on to those values. We believe in doing things the CLT way, where children are allowed to remain children instead of imitating adults, for example, in their dance form,” said Debopama Bose, a dance teacher at CLT and honorary editor of the institution’s children’s magazine.
Over the years, the number of students at CLT has been dwindling.
“The numbers were reducing gradually and drastically came down in the pandemic. When parents come to us, for some of them the first question is whether their children would be able to perform for television programmes. We do not promise that but we can give an assurance that the child will learn while remaining happy instead of being bogged down with exams to move to the next level,” said Sankar Mukherjee, general secretary of CLT.
Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi were patrons of the institution in its early years, said Mukherjee.
But with most children now on mobile phones, parents encourage them to go to online channels to learn dance and music.
On Monday evening, about 60 students performed a piece based on Rabindrasangeet where they danced and skated on stage.
“Since children are so occupied with tuition, at times it was difficult to get them together for rehearsals. But there is a section of parents who cooperate,” said Bose.
