‘Quality Time’- a Mental Health Need of Today's Children

In India, children constitute about 40% of the total population. Children do not think, feel or react as grown-up people do. Physically, mentally and emotionally each child is a growing, changing individual with unique needs and potentialities. The first responsibility of parents is to try to understand their children's needs and patterns of growth. The home is a place where the child first develops an attitude towards himself. The greatest gift parents can give to their child is to help him to realize that he is an individual of importance. Unfortunately, many parents lead a rich and busy life today and find it difficult to spend time regularly with their children. Hence, it is the mental health professionals’ responsibility especially the psychiatric nurses to educate the parents to spend quality time with their children to facilitate healthy parent-child relationship.