Poetic Saturdays - Analysis of Robert Stevenson's Poem and importance of Environment in Child's development

 

Children, you are very little,
And your bones are very brittle;
If you would grow great and stately,
You must try to walk sedately.

You must still be bright and quiet,
And content with simple diet;
And remain, through all bewild’ring,
Innocent and honest children.

Happy hearts and happy faces,
Happy play in grassy places–
That was how in ancient ages,
Children grew to kings and sages.

But the unkind and the unruly,
And the sort who eat unduly,
They must never hope for glory–
Theirs is quite a different story!

Cruel children, crying babies,
All grow up as geese and gabies,
Hated, as their age increases,
By their nephews and their nieces.

The poet is giving a firm instruction to all children. He tells them to cultivate good habits. He adds that they should walk sedately which means slowly in order to reach the heights of greatness. A simple diet works great to be happy and content. Happy faces and happy hearts do make one grow into a kingly state. Not only that but king’s and sage’s courtyard are always filled with greatness and abundant knowledge.

And if they do not listen and continue cultivating the bad habits by being unkind and dishevelled by hearts, not maintaining healthy eating habits, then they can never aim for wisdom and satisfaction in their life. They will lead a miserable life. They will never grow to be a kind individual but rather would be ill-shaped. Their behaviour will only breed hatred in their kin’s mind. Their courtyard will be barren. The love and care will not find a home in their land.

Let me state a case study to elaborate the key role of environment in an individual’s life.

Children are tiny miracles we know.  In a hospital room, there are many bassinets where babies are wrapped warmly with their swaddling blankets. They look heavenly with their shut eye. Sometimes they open their eyes and look around. They do not understand anything of the outside world. Let’s take example of two babies A and B out of those bassinets. Their lay in front of them a whole world. A raw and undefiled world. In that world, there are promises, potential, gains and losses, wisdom and conflicts and many such things.

Few years later, A and B grow and become adults. A is very positive in his life. He thinks he has potential to reach greater heights. His can-do attitude always gets him new opportunities. Mind you, B is a direct opposite to A. He is very cynical about his journey of life. He thinks he can never achieve greatness. His negative mindset attracts more negativity in his life and the people around him.

Now let’s go back to the hospital room where A and B were little babies in their respective bassinets. A and B were two babies who had lot of potential and promise in front of them. They were ready to take on the world.

What happened then!

The genetic expression has always been in the picture which led us to believe that children inherit the qualities of their parents and their kin. That may be true. Science does its part but there is also one more aspect which takes control of the situation and nudge a child to become a stronger and positive individual. It is a backbone to good habits and kindness. Environment! Genes cannot be altered but right environment can be provided for child’s growth. Studies have shown the significant role of environmental stimulations in the trajectory of child’s life.

Yes. Environment that a child lives in, plays a key role in shaping a child and its behaviour. The kind of environment they are exposed to, will be deeply imprinted in the child’s brain. What they see is what they believe and what they believe is what they will follow. It is as simple as that. The environment is one ecosystem in itself. The immensity of benefits that a good environment provides, was very underrated. In the past, it was often slighted and the error of omitting that important element had a lot of negative effects on a child. If we want our child to pick up good habits, then it is dire necessary to implement the habits ourselves. We need to be the best version of ourselves because placing them as a window, the outside world gets a peek at our personality and beliefs. The routine that we live and the choices that we make will rub off in our children’s day to day life. They see us as their role models and want to ape us in every aspect.

For a child, good habits and bad habits do not come with a label. A child cannot make out which one to choose and which one to avoid. He/she can only make out the difference seeing us and our life choices. Watching and observing acts brilliant. The healthy eating habits, the instrument we play, the reading habits, the passion for any art academic excellence and many more such developmental activities we want our kids to adopt and make it as a part of their routine. Definitely, the sentiment is valid. But we as parents should try to make way for those activities in our life too and seeing us enjoy those, our child will fall in love with the same. In the end, those nurturing habits will enter their world.

Family atmosphere is one of the crucial agents in raising healthy children. Let’s give our children a right environment and build a strong base so as to get a result as in the poem ‘ Happy hearts and happy faces’ eventually making them wise and kind.