“What is this life, if full of care, we have to time to
stand and stare..” These famous lines of
W.H. Davies holds true for most adults in today’s time where everything is
paced at a break-neck speed and the number of activities outdo the time we have
on our hands. However, the unfortunate part is that this is also fast becoming
a reality for many children.
With competition closing in from all quarters, children
these days are not only expected to excel in studies but also bring in trophies
and accolades in myriad other spheres of life ranging from drawing, sports to
public speaking and management skills.
It is common practice amongst parents to compare the
busyness quotient of their children’s lives and use it as a sort of scoring
point at social gatherings. It is degrading to admit that the child doesn’t attend
any “classes” of sorts and spends time at home instead. How unfortunate then
for these kids who perhaps will never realize the importance and joy of playing
silly, or doing nothing!
Children need as much unstructured time as structured to
enhance their thinking and growing. A lot of activities that seem like a waste
of time are actually instrumental in unleashing their creativity and
undiscovered talent. We as adults love the tag of “being busy” and try to fill
in all our waking hours with “doing something”. As a natural progression, this
attitude gets shifted to our parenting style and towards our children.
Rushing from one class to another hardly leaves any time for
kids to think constructively. While it is true that extra-curricular activities
are needed to give a well-rounded personality, an over-dose of such “classes”
might actually rob the child of any genuine interest. There is a fine balance
that needs to be maintained between nudging and pushing. Nudging a child into
pursuing hobby classes is needed but pushing a child into cramming every
possible extra skill in their free-time is a huge no-no.
Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore,
focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the
world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at
our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/
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