Sir,
In today’s rat race, our children, from the tender age of 3, are forced to run with academic grades and related home work. In the process, it is routine for them to accept the tension in life from a tender age. Children are moulded to fit into the examination process and adults expect the child to fit into this mould.
In our school days, daily homework, periodical tests were unheard of till we entered our College. With the fast development in technology, the process of preparing children for their life has taken a new dimension and this generation is running with the system without
In today’s life, family members rarely get any quality time to sit together and discuss/enjoy. Parents hardly know their children and their potential/interest. They hardly encourage and appreciate the child when he/she does good work. In
Adults forget the fact that
Some parents insist teachers for daily homework having their own calculations and set mind. In the process, life loses its direction
So many articles/write-ups on this issue have had
– Ashok Nayak, V.V. Mohalla, 20.1.2019
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So true! Yes. we who grew up half a century ago were (in the main) fortunate to be spared the burden of parental expectations. Unstructured, so-called idle play (of the type celebrated in our own R.K. Narayan’s “Swami and friends”) is the most important for a child’s wholesome development, for developing her capacity for friendship, empathy, imagination, innovation, feelings of self worth and sense of awe and beauty, which no amount of “classes” or structured learning can provide. Wish more parents would recognize this and allow their child more time to be herself, something, that, in the long run, will pay rich dividends. Reminded of an old poem from my schooldays:
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.