NCERT Class 7th Chapter-4 Poem: Chivvy by Michael Rosen

According to the dictionary, the word "chivvy" means to nag, "to continuously urge someone to do something, often in an annoying way".

Brief summary

For children, there is one thing despicable to them, i.e. getting rebuked all the time by grown-up people like parents, teachers, etc.

Parents are always mindful of what the children are doing, and it becomes their habit to utter words of caution and prevention to the children like:

"Speak up

Don't talk with your mouth full 

Don't stare 

Don't point

Don't pick your nose"

According to the grown-ups' psychology, children cannot do anything on their own; they need a little push and help from adults. They fear that the children will hurt themselves doing something without the supervision of the guardians.

But, on the contrary side, parents complain that children are too dependent on them and can't initiate something on their own. So, the conundrum for the children is that if they take some initiative, they get reprimanded and if they sit still, do nothing, still they get the blame of being dependent and meek,

and the adult will tag them as "inactive child".