As parents, we experience various emotions when going through the parenting journey, joy, anger, irritation, sadness. Along with each of these emotions is a sense of responsibility, a sense that we are responsible for fostering the well-being and growth of our child/children. To this end, as they are growing up, we teach them how to brush, how to bathe, how to read and play, and maintain their physical parameters within the normal range for their age. As professionals working in the medical field, and in this era of masks and sanitisers, we take especial care to teach all hygienic precautions to our child. Equally important is the concept of mental hygiene right from early childhood. The foundation of emotional wellbeing is laid in the school going years, so it is necessary to teach them caring, kindness, and acceptance of differences and build a strong value system in these early years. Like brushing and flossing prevents plaques and caries, this training could well be the primary preventive care for mental health disorders. Half of the of mental health needs like depression, anxiety, substance use have their origin by the age of 14 years. So let us start inculcating mental hygiene as an essential part of all learning in childhood. Let us develop a sense of connection with our children’s emotional needs, so that we are there to support them as soon as they have concerns, be it meltdowns, academic issues, behavioural problems or relational needs. As per studies, the average delay between onset of mental health concerns and intervention is 8-10 years. The focus on children’s mental health becomes all the more important in the current context because of two reasons:

1. The internet explosion with its huge addictive potential, which is preventing our children from going out there in the real world and playing, problem-solving and building relationships.
2. The COVID-19 pandemic which has thrown school and play routines out of gear, giving rise to anxiety, social isolation and delay in getting therapeutic help. Let us hereby take a pledge to make our children mentally sound, emotionally regulated, giving, productive, cyber-responsible citizens of the future. Let us start putting their emotional development above their academic progress. Let us, in the process, model self-care, practice mindfulness, healthy lifestyle practices, as our children tell us in the words of Confucius’ I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand’.