Don’t push your children too hard
Apr 21, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR<br><br>School has become more tormenting than ever before. Parents and teachers are drilling children to pass exams, get quadruple As and make it on government sponsorship at university. But there is a problem in this being the definiti
FROM THE EDITOR
School has become more tormenting than ever before. Parents and teachers are drilling children to pass exams, get quadruple As and make it on government sponsorship at university. But there is a problem in this being the definition of “success,†because children will not always agree on that definition. A parent may not accept less than A from a child, yet the best the child can perform is, indeed, a B. Some children also define success when they excel activities like sports, or music and drama.
It is true that with no push for “successâ€, some children tend to be lousy. However, all too often, schools just want to brag about their grades, while parents expect children to live up to their personal achievements. Though tough to own up to, this is when a balance is needed. Pushing too hard may achieve nothing if the desired goal is more a fulfillment of the teacher’s/parent’s dream than the child's. We should, therefore, encourage the child toward a goal that they are interested in or enjoy doing.
School has become more tormenting than ever before. Parents and teachers are drilling children to pass exams, get quadruple As and make it on government sponsorship at university. But there is a problem in this being the definition of “success,†because children will not always agree on that definition. A parent may not accept less than A from a child, yet the best the child can perform is, indeed, a B. Some children also define success when they excel activities like sports, or music and drama.
It is true that with no push for “successâ€, some children tend to be lousy. However, all too often, schools just want to brag about their grades, while parents expect children to live up to their personal achievements. Though tough to own up to, this is when a balance is needed. Pushing too hard may achieve nothing if the desired goal is more a fulfillment of the teacher’s/parent’s dream than the child's. We should, therefore, encourage the child toward a goal that they are interested in or enjoy doing.