Candidates need your acceptance now more than ever before
Sep 18, 2005
They might have brought home a below average report card. In spite of your disappointment, candidates need your acceptance now than ever before.
They might have brought home a below average report card. In spite of your disappointment, candidates need your acceptance now than ever before.
In a society where exam results open golden gates to good schools and attractive university courses, exam fill candidates with extreme levels of anxiety. As time closes on them, pressure also mounts and expectations from various quarters rise higher and higher. Disappointing a parent after years of huge financial sacrifice would particularly amount to a ‘criminal offence’.
Did your candidate bring home a less than average report card? It must be disappointing to pay fees for a child who shows no improvement. Exam is a challenging battle that pushes candidates to the wall and they need social support. The task your child faces now is big and like any other human being, the child needs your support. It is time to calculate your words with more precision than before. Candidates are particularly sensitive to inappropriate comments from parents.
There is no time the word ‘failure’ rings loud and clear to a candidate like during exams.
A candidate who was described as ‘dense’ ‘good for nothing’ or ‘total failure’ last term feels the weight of these words now. Even during revision, these stinging words makes the candidate think like ‘even my parent knows am a total failure and dense. I truly wont make it.’ These words might sound simple to you, but to the child they remain permanently in the mind's data bank.
The words also shake self-esteem, which is the very foundation of success. Did you know that low self-esteem hits hardest when an individual is faced with a challenging task?
You will not imagine how ‘dense’ you are until you are faced with a challenging task that demands a brilliant brain. You might have degraded your child before, but all is not lost. This is the time to express confidence in your child's abilities.
Use words like “Although your results were not quite good last term, I have confidence in your ability. Am aware you are brilliant and I know you will excel in your final exam.â€
l Surprise your child with a card at the beginning of this term just to express the confidence you have in them. Dwelling in the child’s past failure will never improve any grade. At best it serves to pull down an already shattered self-esteem.
l Talking to a candidate helps both of you to express feelings. Use statements like ‘tell me how you feel about your forthcoming final exams.’ ‘Have you thought about the gift I shall buy for you when you excel in your exams?’ Open communication between candidates and parents helps to relieve tension and reduces anxiety.
l Fear of exams often stems from pressure and unrealistic standards set by parents.
Children can be encouraged to work hard without undue pressure. Children often behave according to the parent’s expectations.
Describing your candidate as ‘dense’ would make the child to unconsciously act in a ‘dense’ way so as to conform to your description. The best way to help candidates develop self-confidence is to express your confidence in them. Till next week. Be a good parent.
jwagwau@newvision.co.ug 077631032
In a society where exam results open golden gates to good schools and attractive university courses, exam fill candidates with extreme levels of anxiety. As time closes on them, pressure also mounts and expectations from various quarters rise higher and higher. Disappointing a parent after years of huge financial sacrifice would particularly amount to a ‘criminal offence’.
Did your candidate bring home a less than average report card? It must be disappointing to pay fees for a child who shows no improvement. Exam is a challenging battle that pushes candidates to the wall and they need social support. The task your child faces now is big and like any other human being, the child needs your support. It is time to calculate your words with more precision than before. Candidates are particularly sensitive to inappropriate comments from parents.
There is no time the word ‘failure’ rings loud and clear to a candidate like during exams.
A candidate who was described as ‘dense’ ‘good for nothing’ or ‘total failure’ last term feels the weight of these words now. Even during revision, these stinging words makes the candidate think like ‘even my parent knows am a total failure and dense. I truly wont make it.’ These words might sound simple to you, but to the child they remain permanently in the mind's data bank.
The words also shake self-esteem, which is the very foundation of success. Did you know that low self-esteem hits hardest when an individual is faced with a challenging task?
You will not imagine how ‘dense’ you are until you are faced with a challenging task that demands a brilliant brain. You might have degraded your child before, but all is not lost. This is the time to express confidence in your child's abilities.
Use words like “Although your results were not quite good last term, I have confidence in your ability. Am aware you are brilliant and I know you will excel in your final exam.â€
l Surprise your child with a card at the beginning of this term just to express the confidence you have in them. Dwelling in the child’s past failure will never improve any grade. At best it serves to pull down an already shattered self-esteem.
l Talking to a candidate helps both of you to express feelings. Use statements like ‘tell me how you feel about your forthcoming final exams.’ ‘Have you thought about the gift I shall buy for you when you excel in your exams?’ Open communication between candidates and parents helps to relieve tension and reduces anxiety.
l Fear of exams often stems from pressure and unrealistic standards set by parents.
Children can be encouraged to work hard without undue pressure. Children often behave according to the parent’s expectations.
Describing your candidate as ‘dense’ would make the child to unconsciously act in a ‘dense’ way so as to conform to your description. The best way to help candidates develop self-confidence is to express your confidence in them. Till next week. Be a good parent.
jwagwau@newvision.co.ug 077631032