By: Shafat Ali Dar

They laugh, they play, they forget things, they get bored easily. From the outside, children look like carefree, curious beings made of sunshine and giggles. But if we’re honest—truly honest—we’ll admit that we’ve stopped looking beneath the surface. We rarely ask: what’s going on inside that tiny head or fragile heart?

We assume they’re too young to be carrying any real burdens. We label their meltdowns as “drama,” their tears as “tantrums,” and their withdrawal as “just a phase.” But science—and life—tells a different story.

According to a 2023 UNICEF report, one in seven children globally suffers from a mental health disorder. Anxiety and depression are no longer teenage problems; they’re creeping into early childhood. And no, it’s not because kids have become “soft.” It’s because the world around them has become loud, fast, demanding—and we haven’t changed our parenting or teaching models to match.

We’re still raising children the way we were raised: with tough love, long lectures, and the idea that kids should be “seen, not heard.” We still hold onto stories like, “In our days, we had no phones, no fancy toys, and we turned out fine.” But this isn’t our day. The terrain has shifted—drastically.

Today’s children are exposed to overstimulation, constant comparison, social media validation, academic rat races, fractured family time, and adult realities before they even hit puberty. Imagine having a developing brain and still being expected to self-regulate emotions, ace every subject, win medals, manage loneliness, and not ask for too much. That’s........

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