It is, perhaps, a revelation and a disturbing one at that – a Survey conducted by the Scooldudes Team across 8 major cities in India and covering about 5000 school – going children has found out that 50% of the surveyed children in Chennai are acutely stressed with the reasons cited being heavy syllabus, long study hours (incl. after school tuition), parental/teacher pressure and lack of confidence. The stress levels of the Mumbai and Bangalore children are higher at 80% and 65% respectively but that is not a comfort for the Chennaiites!! While this is so, today’s typical parents have another major concern – their child is totally locked up with his mobile or the desktop or the ipad or the tablet, playing some video game or the other or generally lost in the world of social media and the internet.
Thankfully, Mr Ramachandran Kannan, an XLRI alumnus (1982 batch) and a HR Professional turned Academician, seems to have come up with a workable solution to this vexing issue, courtesy, the innovative and engaging App Scooldudes formally launched today in Chennai. The timing could not have been better what with the summer vacations just about to commence and the parents and children desperate to seek promising after – school engagement programs!
Launching the Scooldudes App, Mr B Santhanam, Managing Director, St. Gobain India Pvt. Ltd., lauded this initiative and said that this innovative effort will go a long way in addressing the major concern of today’s parents and exhorted the children and parents to fully utilise the functionalities of the App. He mentioned that there are outbound activities to provide experiential learning that would help in developing the life skills of children such as Self Awareness, Social Skills, Communication, Interpersonal Relationship, Coping with Stress, Decision Making and so on. He mentioned about a dozen programs available in the App such as J4M (Just 4 Minutes), Community Connect, Work and Learn, Career Wise, P Files, Wassup, etc., to ensure development of these skills in children.
The glittering App Launch function also witnessed a Panel Discussion on the very relevant topic of How Important is After School Activities vis a vis Academics. Mrs. Teresa, Headmistress, Sishya School, Mrs. Chithra Ravi, Founder, Chrysalis, Mr. Sanjay Rao, Emotional Intelligence Coach and Ms. Vijayalakshmi MCC Executive, Wellness and Life Coach, made the discussions a very lively one which was moderated by Mr Ramachandran Kannan. Mrs. Teresa also mentioned that it is very important that children engage in some after school activities to destress themselves.
