whAt is the junior age?
The Junior Age is a fortnightly print newspaper for children aged 7 to 14 years old. Our goal is to explain relevant news and current affairs in a safe, unbiased, age-appropriate, and child-friendly way. Our newspaper has a mix of Indian news, world news, sports news, animal news, climate news, and also pages on exciting trivia, puzzles, and entertainment
The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go’ – Dr. Suess
There is a saying ‘leaders are readers’ and The Junior Age is all about sharpening the minds of tomorrow’s leaders.
According to research conducted by Hoot, children who read regularly have better language skills, larger vocabularies, and high cognitive skills than non-readers. Children who read more are likely to be seen as young independent, confident leaders to their peers due to their extensive knowledge about various topics. Reading, especially a newspaper, helps them learn about cool new things such as man’s best friend dogs don’t only see in black and white, they can also see in blue, green, yellow, and gray too.
Having various type of knowledge helps open up many doors in the future. You never know if having knowledge about the latest space mission or red pandas can be helpful in the future.
Reading and consuming news not only helps children stay updated with current affairs but also helps them to think critically and have open discussions with their peers.
OUR GOAL
The goal of The Junior Age is to stimulate the natural curiosity of children and to get them to talk about the news and the world around them. The Junior Age aims to inspire children to explore the world, form opinions and enable critical thinking. We believe that it is of paramount importance for children to understand the world around them and get involved securely.
The Junior Age believes in making reading and learning an active process for the children, so we encourage and invite their feedback and involvement in our newspaper. We publish their content, in form of art, poetry, essay, or prose, and also encourage them to become our ‘The Junior Age Kid Reporter’ and write articles and conduct interviews with people who can be good mentors or influencers to them.
The Junior Age also offers internships to children of age 14 and above who want to learn the process of identifying news, writing, and editing news. We believe in building their skills for when they step out into the world, they are armored with the right set of knowledge and skill.
OUR FOUNDER
The Junior Age is the brainchild of our founder & editor Divyata Shergill. The idea came to her when she noticed the curiosity her six-year-old daughter showed while the parents indulged in daily news reading newspapers. She noticed how there was a gap in the market in terms of access to news for kids. Divyata observed that children aged 5-9 years are in their development stages and are very adaptive to new experiences. Whether it’s about learning a new hobby physically or mentally, kids have a quick grasping power. And that’s how The Junior Age was born.
Divyata is a corporate lawyer with a vast experience in private equity and mergers and acquisitions, started her entrepreneur journey in 2016 and moved out of her comfort zone, and started ShaadiWish.com. She is a law graduate from WB NUJS, Kolkata, and has a master’s degree in law from Northwestern University, Chicago.