Storytelling to save kids from ‘Blue Whale’ scare

Lucknow: A group of youngsters in Lucknow have launched an initiative to help other kids disassociate themselves from the virtual world.

The group ‘Samarpan’  has named its initiative as ‘Dadi Nani ki Kahani’.

Talking to The Asian Age, Gaurav and Mohit, who are spearheading the campaign, said, “In today’s world of nuclear families, there are no grandparents to tell children stories. So kids get sucked into the virtual world and the craze for the Blue Whale is an example of this”.

The group has requested the elderly inmates of oldage homes to reach out to kids and narrate stories — like the Panchtantra — that are entertaining as well as educative.

“We feel this will help the senior citizens get a family feel if they spend time with the children and the children will also enjoy the grandparent relationship with their mentors.” the duo said.

The group of youngsters are now busy contacting schools so that batches of children can be taken to oldage homes where they will interact with the elderly for story telling . Interestingly, the traditional scarecrow that is put up in fields in rural India is the mascot for this campaign.

“It is symbolic. We want to scare away the unhealthy influences from the virtual world that are disturbing the children and lead them into a more comfortable environment,” said youngster Gaurav.