Don't curb children's aims to keep them from harmful stimuli: Samir Parikh

Q&A with director of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Healthcare

Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar recently appealed to the authorities to ban reality television shows that involve children. His argument was that such shows can be emotionally scarring for children. SAMIR PARIKH, director of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Healthcare in Delhi, tells Manavi Kapur that children need to be trained to absorb the content around them in a healthy manner rather than ban a certain type of show altogether. Edited excerpts:
 
Do you agree that a reality television show that stars children ‘destroys’ them emotionally?

I don’t think blanket statements like that are fair,