Kerala government campaign on importance of mental health has a strong message for parents

The latest two-minute Malayalam video on parenting featuring actors Indrajith Sukumaran and Poornima Indrajith is grabbing eyeballs on social media. The video talks about what and what not parents must talk to ensure good mental health of a child. A joint venture of Kerala government and UNICEF, the video titled ‘Vendatto’ has crossed thousands of views on YouTube.

Mental health of children have become a topic of immense concern, especially during Covid pandemic times. The new parenting campaign of Kerala government ‘Vendatto’, which means ‘Please don’t’ in Malayalam stresses on things parents must and must not tell their children. Featuring actors Indrajith Sukumaran and his wife Poornima Indrajith, ‘Vendatto’ is grabbing a lot of attention on social media. Indeed, it highlights a cause of utmost concern.

A much appreciated campaign

It is high time parents and teachers understood how emotional wellbeing of children is as important as their physical health. Only good mental health allows a child to develop resilience to cope up with whatever life throws at them in the future as they grow up. It also helps them to become well-rounded, healthy adults who can contribute to the society.

Kerala government has always been in the forefront when it comes to kick-starting unique government initiated campaigns for welfare of people. ‘Vendatto’, an initiative on parenting taken by the state government and UNICEF together is promoted by state women and child welfare department. Its minister KK Shailaja, who has received a lot of appreciation for her efforts in battling Covid in the state, has spearheaded this campaign too. She shared the video on social media as well.

In the two-minute Malayalam video, Indrajith and Poornima talks about what you must not tell a child. The video starts off by Indrajith saying, “We’re going to say some things we shouldn’t be saying, specifically to kids”.

“You’re dark, fat, skinny, short. We shouldn’t be saying these to children even as a joke”, adds Poornima. The video that premiered on Sunday on YouTube has gathered thousands of views within a few hours.

Amongst those who shared the video on their social media handles include state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Experts speak

Seema Lal of TogetherWeCan has always been vocal about issues of mental health in children. “Wonderful to see an initiative that focuses on parenting. Home is the foundation, parents are the first teachers. But it probably took a pandemic for us to realize that. So better late than never. Core message of ‘TogetherWeCan’ is all about enriching, empowering and enabling parents to take on”, she says.

K Bhavani, a counselor with a Kerala NGO says, “State government has introduced such campaigns featuring renowned names. So this is not a first, but indeed a great step towards creating awareness about need for parents to be careful while interacting with children. With rising number of abuse cases etc, talking about mental health is of utmost importance”.

Shinoj who has three young children lives in Kochi and works in the medical field. “I have not come across many campaigns that focusses on what parents need to be careful about. So this one is indeed interesting. As a parent, I have understood how important it is to take care of mental health of my children. I see how upset they are when their marks are down, but I also want them to understand that academics isn’t everything. I’am focusing on them being good, compassionate human beings. For that their mental health needs to be good as much as physical”, he says.

Watch in Sign Language

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• Online classes taking a toll on mental health of children, says parents & experts