Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated November 14, 1958: Children’s Day

(From an editorial)

Mr. Nehru feels happy whenever “something useful and lasting is done for children”; that is why the observance of the Prime Minister’s birthday has been linked up with Children’s Day in this country. All through the year adults are engaged in telling children what they should say, do and even think. Children’s Day, as Mrs. Indira Gandhi has pointed out, is the “one day in a year when everybody is reminded of his duty towards the children of the nation.” Cliches often enshrine truth and the children of to-day are, indeed, the citizens of tomorrow. One of the main purposes of Children’s Day would be (apart from causing adults to devote some thought on children) to make every normal child “think for a moment whether every other child in the country is equally happy.” Thus a social consciousness is instilled into a person at a very early and formative stage. It is true that the State, with its ambition of fully deserving the appellation of “Welfare”, pays increasing attention to children; but this can never be a substitute for a feeling of responsibility towards the children of the nation which every civic-minded citizen ought to harbour. Children have to be provided with special medical, recreational and educational facilities. This is well recognised now; for instance, hospitals for adults are not what children need. The role that sport plays in the formation of character in one’s young years is important. Veteran leaders of the nation have begun to stress, in recent months, the importance of religion in the scheme of life. Children’s Day could be used for this purpose, too. Ultimately it is up to parents and guardians to make children realise this.

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