CHENNAI: The India versus Pakistan match on Sunday set the right mood for this World Cup series for cricket lovers across the country, but parents and students sitting for the board exams this year are finding themselves on a tough wicket.
"My son is keen on watching at least some of the games, and they happen to be the ones before major exams," says Sundar Raman, parent of a Class 12 student. The boy insists that he cannot miss the India vs West Indies, Pakistan vs South Africa and the Australia vs Sri Lanka matches that are being held between March 6 and 8. March 9 is the physics exam for Class 12 CBSE students.
And the smartphones in children's hands haven't helped. A number of apps give updates and snippets about the matches, teams and individual players by the minute, and some are interactive to boot. The excitement gets prolonged to hours before and after the matches, rue parents. "My son has joined Twitter, along with five of his friends, just for the World Cup. So, he is watching the matches on two screens at the same time - on TV and on his phone where he is reading and sending tweets on the match. It's putting me on the edge," said George Felix, father of a Class 10 student.
During group study , too, discussions swing easily from biology to bouncers. The latest fad is commentary in the regional languages. "It's a novel experience for today's children, and they like to tune into it. My daughter tells me that it helps her de-stress after studying for a day , but I feel that it is taking focus away from the exams and flooding her mind with unwanted information," says Geetha Sethuraman, mother of 15-year-old Padma.
Other children have struck bargains with their parents to watch specific parts of interesting matches, as time to unwind. For some, it is the opening part and the slog overs, for others it is the overs played by their favourite star. Some others have a proxy to watch the matches for them and call out when there is an interesting over.
Teachers and parents agree that a blanket ban on watching such a big event would do more harm than good. B Elayaraja, counselling psychologist at 104, says, "A half hour of television viewing shouldn't take students' mind too much off studies, but could give them the required relaxation."
But the problem gets worse towards the semi-finals which come between core exams in all three board -state, CBSE and ICSE. The first semi-final comes just before the Class 12 biology exam in the ICSE board, while the second is on the day of the accounts exam.
"My son is keen on watching at least some of the games, and they happen to be the ones before major exams," says Sundar Raman, parent of a Class 12 student. The boy insists that he cannot miss the India vs West Indies, Pakistan vs South Africa and the Australia vs Sri Lanka matches that are being held between March 6 and 8. March 9 is the physics exam for Class 12 CBSE students.
And the smartphones in children's hands haven't helped. A number of apps give updates and snippets about the matches, teams and individual players by the minute, and some are interactive to boot. The excitement gets prolonged to hours before and after the matches, rue parents. "My son has joined Twitter, along with five of his friends, just for the World Cup. So, he is watching the matches on two screens at the same time - on TV and on his phone where he is reading and sending tweets on the match. It's putting me on the edge," said George Felix, father of a Class 10 student.
During group study , too, discussions swing easily from biology to bouncers. The latest fad is commentary in the regional languages. "It's a novel experience for today's children, and they like to tune into it. My daughter tells me that it helps her de-stress after studying for a day , but I feel that it is taking focus away from the exams and flooding her mind with unwanted information," says Geetha Sethuraman, mother of 15-year-old Padma.
Other children have struck bargains with their parents to watch specific parts of interesting matches, as time to unwind. For some, it is the opening part and the slog overs, for others it is the overs played by their favourite star. Some others have a proxy to watch the matches for them and call out when there is an interesting over.
Teachers and parents agree that a blanket ban on watching such a big event would do more harm than good. B Elayaraja, counselling psychologist at 104, says, "A half hour of television viewing shouldn't take students' mind too much off studies, but could give them the required relaxation."
But the problem gets worse towards the semi-finals which come between core exams in all three board -state, CBSE and ICSE. The first semi-final comes just before the Class 12 biology exam in the ICSE board, while the second is on the day of the accounts exam.
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