Do Schools Put Too Much Pressure on Kids

In the 21st century, the lifestyle of a common person is, traveling with lightening speed. A speed mingled with cut-throat competition to hoist the flag of success in the desired field, all with the budding population and limited opportunities, paves a path of a slow and steady race.

Initiating kids from nursery to high school gates, parents hope for the best in every step. But unaware that the education systems are commercial complexes built with piles of money, that only emphasizes learning knowledge for a better standard of living but ceased morals of life.

Now a days, education plays a vital role for any gender. This demand calls for more upcoming schools that provide the best for kids, so there lays a brand competition between schools. Simultaneously they prepare an army to shoulder their brand name. All these acts are to advertise their student resource as their brand ambassadors, in order to achieve this goal, they impel and instruct the kids to be over smart, and are pressurized with various concepts than their small minds can absorb.

Recently, we can see a number of competitive entrance exams. All these mind-tricking exams are even loaded on small kids, just to stand in a smart school. Coming across these smart schools, we may find a military teaching, that efforts to weigh heavy projects on the little shoulders of kids. In course of all these teachings, a fast trend of exam pattern confuses their small brains. The best example we see in these days is weekly to monthly exams, that encourages high-level competitions, and acts as a filter for the schools to bring up their limited student resource, and to provide the best guidance only for these selected kids. This pushes others to study to their fate. Within these cooperate schools, many higher level studies like AIEE is introduced in lower classes itself.

In olden days, holidays used to ring bells of fun and joy for the kids, a lovely time with their loved ones. These special times are lost, in the burdens of home work and extra classes to fulfill syllabus plans.

At every step, kids are suffering from high-level stress. They are growing with a robotic mechanism in these years. With no further delay, every school should see the tenderness of kids, feel their interests and know that they are fragile hearts. Let us see to the future, where education is knowledge, divine, and a fragrance of blooming kid’s happiness.

Amru Amruta

Do Schools Put Too Much Pressure on Kids

Yes, it’s true that school put a lot of pressure on kids. School children are always seen carrying a huge bag of books and notebooks along with them. Though it’s a class 1st kid or a class 10th kid, all have huge burden of studies. Nowadays everyone wants to come first and no body wants to be the last. Every body just talks of marks and syllabus irrespective of learning things in a better and appropriate way. Children always want to score higher and higher. Even the parents also want their children to be amongst the toppers. For that they spend thousands rupees on their children studies and on their better living conditions so that they can study in better and efficient way. This increases among students a spirit of competition and they sometimes work even more hard to prove themselves.

But this does not create champions but it only puts a lot of burden on school children. Childhood is a time when kids grow and become mature. Their mental and physical level grows and they are able to learn and explore new things during that time. But in schools a huge pressure of studies and work are put on children. And they only study in schools. Schools, especially, private schools follow a particular curriculum and a well defined pattern as according to various institutions or boards like CBSE, ICSE, etc. This puts an immense pressure on schools which have to complete the syllabus on time, and ultimately leading to undue pressure on children. This sometimes create a negative impact on children because they sometimes make themselves so busy that they forget other important things in life like playing, reading other journals and books.

All this is because of their hectic school life because schools put a lot of pressures on studies only rather than making children participate in other activities. This is a really bad thing as children don’t get exposure of outside world and they are always seen learning for their tests, doing assignments and homework and only those tasks which their teachers give to them. This makes their life really busy and

they are so much miserable that they can’t do any other work. Nor they can watch educational TV channels such as discovery, national geographical etc. because they don’t have time for anything. All this is because of their school which put undue pressure on kids. Various surveys are done for school children and it is seen that children carry a huge weighted bag to school daily. This is not a good thing at all.

In foreign countries students are provided lockers in the school premises so that the children don’t have to carry heavy bag with them daily to school. They just have two carry on homework copies only and that too little one. But this is not the case in India because as we are always of lack of resources, schools can’t provide them lockers system. But this could be good thing for the development of India. Not just this, children never enjoy their summer and winter vacations because they are always provided with huge amount of homework and assignments for the vacations. The homework is though knowledgeable but side by side time consuming also because kids couldn’t enjoy their vacations because they have two do homework. They can’t go to relatives place because they have homework. Though “A students life is the toughest life” but their must be some relaxation to it because if they are put into a lot of burden then they can never achieve success. Because this is rightly said that “A too must stretched string is becomes strong up to a certain limit, after that it breaks.” So a student’s life in a same way is very miserable and they must not be so much stretched that it creates negative impacts on them.

The main reason of students committing suicides is this only because some children can’t take pressures put by their school, so they take wrong steps like suicides and some go into drugs and all such bad activities. Though schools take a lot of care of the kids but then also they are often put into bad habits when they are in school itself. But it shouldn’t be the case because as schools are always referred as temples so children should never be disadvantaged because of that. Also children always enjoy when they are in school because they always go to school to learn sometime, not to get overburdened. Hence schools should always do sometime to cope with this problem because children being the future of our country should never be mistreated. Also overburdening of children with work is against the rules and regulations of various NGO’s and organizations.

Something should be done for the betterment of school kids like they should be given lesser homework. They should be made to do written work in school only because written work is the only thing which consumes a lot of time. If written work is done in the school itself then the children will only have to do learning work and activities at home. Also children should be always be encouraged to learn not to cram things because we can’t cram everything but can understand things and this is the best way because want ever we cram will be lost from our minds one day but whatever we learn and understand will stay with us forever. And this cramming of things is the most hectic part for students and this sometimes create a bad impact on them. For example- we always learn and understand mathematics, so it stays in our mind forever because we have learned the concepts not cram them. In the same way we sometimes cram a lesson so it one or the other day will get lost from our mind. So cramming never helps. Hence the school should always encourage children to be ahead in life but not to only work in life. And also they should not impose loads of work on the shoulders of small kids.

Rohit Mittal

Do Schools Put Too Much Pressure on Kids

The rising population over the world has made the intraspecies struggle of human wider than before. Its implications are uglier than expected. Parents and guardian are putting much effort to transform their offspring a fitter individual to persist this survival race. The ancient gurukul system of India considered a child mentally fit enough to get trained, at the age of seven, but today’s globalised education system lowered the bar to two years and not only that, a kid before it starts to speak is taught a variety of things beforehand in order to get into school and handle the pace and pressure generated during the course.

The childhood that is juncture of amusement and relaxation has now become an old story. The kid of twenty first century has to learn, the tactics to face the burden brought forward by the schools. The nursery school that is aimed at physical, social and emotional development of the kid through ways that is meant to give the kid far reaching enjoyment is now diminishing. The toys like elephant, horse,

truck, doll, bus and helicopter are now replaced by big letters of English alphabets, geometrical figures like square triangle, cube and mathematical symbols like plus, minus, into and divide. These new methods are only emerging intellectual portion of the kid rather than overall development. These education systems in the race of being the best have only become a centre of business. They are snatching the pleasant moments of kids and substituting it with weight of study which their delicate brains are incapable of handling. Parents too are not considerate that what their kid will lose today will never come back again-“the hassle free moments”. But in spite of all these parents are unable to judge the precise school which doesn’t threaten their kid of the upcoming higher education. All these kindergartens that are meant only for business purposes may be quite detrimental for the growth of the kid into a successful person. Rather schools should understand that education should be a balance between skills and creative expressions-between the head and the heart.

For the kids, the primary school is like a new world. Here they first learn the principles of discipline and that is in no way bad. But happens when the moderate level of discipline turns into excessive level of discipline; it not only pressurizes the kids but also make them rude internally which bursts out in their later life. The kids who are unable to do the home works are harshly beaten up with stick, which tortures them physically. Neither the teacher nor the principle ever tries to look into the matter why the kid was unable to do the homework. Instead of making the kid understand the concepts and clear his doubts in solving the problems, the teachers approach to his parents complaining “your kid does not study”. This creates mental pressure to the kid not only from the school but also an added pressure from their parents.

At the secondary school level the kid, who was already facing the pressure of strict discipline and moral values, feels the pressure of higher studies. He feels the competition between his other class fellows who are getting better rank than him. He labors hard day and night, and in this race he hampers his health. But let me ask “why he feels the competition?” everyone knows that all of us have different capacities. Some are good in sports and some are good at studies. But the main problem is our education system-the teachers praises those students who get better rank while they criticize and underestimate the one who are poor or average at studies. This mental pressure reaches its peak when the student appears for board examination. It has now become a remarkable truth that students getting poor marks in the board exams are criticized by the school, the parents as well as by the society. These extremes of pressure force the students to do suicide.

The level of pressure experienced by the high school students is no less. They now become more alert towards the choice of their future profession. They also feel the stress of advanced studies in the stream they are pursuing-science, commerce or any other stream. The evils of increased criticism preexisting from the secondary school are inherited to the high school. The students have to prepare for entrance exams to get a fine college. While the school is focused at receiving better percentage in board, the student aims at getting better rank in entrance exams. As the syllabuses of both are different, the student feels loss in his confidence level. The teacher trains him shortcut methods for entrances which if he uses in his board is sure to get reduced marks. Hence the school confuses the student. If he doesn’t do well in his board then the school is ready to criticize him, and if he doesn’t do well in his entrances his parents rather than supporting him in this delicate situation are going to add extra mental pressure. This results in students of high school getting into grave depression.

The kid of nursery, by the time he reaches high school becomes completely tired and exhausted by the pressure generating system i.e. “the school”. The schools of present era should use innovative strain free techniques to make the kid learn. They should understand that their aim is “To educate students” but not “Pressurize students and educate them”.

Nishant Kumar Shekhar

Do Schools Put Too Much Pressure on Kids

The rising population over the world has made the intraspecies struggle of human wider than before. Its implications are uglier than expected. Parents and guardian are putting much effort to transform their offspring a fitter individual to persist this survival race. The ancient gurukul system of India considered a child mentally fit enough to get trained, at the age of seven, but today’s globalised education system lowered the bar to two years and not only that, a kid before it starts to speak is

taught a variety of things beforehand in order to get into school and handle the pace and pressure generated during the course.

The childhood that is juncture of amusement and relaxation has now become an old story. The kid of twenty first century has to learn, the tactics to face the burden brought forward by the schools. The nursery school that is aimed at physical, social and emotional development of the kid through ways that is meant to give the kid far reaching enjoyment is now diminishing. The toys like elephant, horse, truck, doll, bus and helicopter are now replaced by big letters of English alphabets, geometrical figures like square triangle, cube and mathematical symbols like plus, minus, into and divide. These new methods are only emerging intellectual portion of the kid rather than overall development. These education systems in the race of being the best have only become a centre of business. They are snatching the pleasant moments of kids and substituting it with weight of study which their delicate brains are incapable of handling. Parents too are not considerate that what their kid will lose today will never come back again-“the hassle free moments”. But in spite of all these parents are unable to judge the precise school which doesn’t threaten their kid of the upcoming higher education. All these kindergartens that are meant only for business purposes may be quite detrimental for the growth of the kid into a successful person. Rather schools should understand that education should be a balance between skills and creative expressions-between the head and the heart.

For the kids, the primary school is like a new world. Here they first learn the principles of discipline and that is in no way bad. But happens when the moderate level of discipline turns into excessive level of discipline; it not only pressurizes the kids but also make them rude internally which bursts out in their later life. The kids who are unable to do the home works are harshly beaten up with stick, which tortures them physically. Neither the teacher nor the principle ever tries to look into the matter why the kid was unable to do the homework. Instead of making the kid understand the concepts and clear his doubts in solving the problems, the teachers approach to his parents complaining “your kid does not study”. This creates mental pressure to the kid not only from the school but also an added pressure from their parents.

At the secondary school level the kid, who was already facing the pressure of strict discipline and moral values, feels the pressure of higher studies. He feels the competition between his other class fellows who are getting better rank than him. He labors hard day and night, and in this race he hampers his health. But let me ask “why he feels the competition?” everyone knows that all of us have different capacities. Some are good in sports and some are good at studies. But the main problem is our education system-the teachers praises those students who get better rank while they criticize and underestimate the one who are poor or average at studies. This mental pressure reaches its peak when the student appears for board examination. It has now become a remarkable truth that students getting poor marks in the board exams are criticized by the school, the parents as well as by the society. These extremes of pressure force the students to do suicide.

The level of pressure experienced by the high school students is no less. They now become more alert towards the choice of their future profession. They also feel the stress of advanced studies in the stream they are pursuing-science, commerce or any other stream. The evils of increased criticism preexisting from the secondary school are inherited to the high school. The students have to prepare for entrance exams to get a fine college. While the school is focused at receiving better percentage in board, the student aims at getting better rank in entrance exams. As the syllabuses of both are different, the student feels loss in his confidence level. The teacher trains him shortcut methods for entrances which if he uses in his board is sure to get reduced marks. Hence the school confuses the student. If he doesn’t do well in his board then the school is ready to criticize him, and if he doesn’t do well in his entrances his parents rather than supporting him in this delicate situation are going to add extra mental pressure. This results in students of high school getting into grave depression.

The kid of nursery, by the time he reaches high school becomes completely tired and exhausted by the pressure generating system i.e. “the school”. The schools of present era should use innovative strain free techniques to make the kid learn. They should understand that their aim is “To educate students” but not “Pressurize students and educate them”.

P.D.Nitya

Do Schools Put Too Much Pressure on Kids The Right Amount Of Pressure, Not A 'bar' More Please!

Schools are considered temples of learning, where the next generation is nurtured and nourished suitably to meet the demands of the society and the nation. A person spends 12 - 14 years of his life in school. These years see his/her transformation from a kid to an adolescent to an adult. Within this span of a dozen or more years he learns about the world, the different forces that govern it, the different kinds of people and their languages and cultures. He/She is prepared to meer the world with knowledge, courage and to innovate and lead.

But sadly today schools create a 'robot-like' next generation whose learning is just limited to fact and theories and limit the child's ability to think laterally and out-of-the-box and to imagine and create. In the rush to secure more distinctions and first classes in the national level examinations, students are pressurised and forced to mug up things without really undrestanding them. Grades matter more than the depth of knowledge and acceptance over questioning things is the norm of today.

Children live in pressure-cooker like atmosphere today. Like rice that is force-cooked at higher pressures than ordinary, children are forced to learn things even before understanding them. Students are taught things that they usually are supposed to learn at a higher grade earlier itself so that they perform better in the next year's exam and increase the reputation of the institute. Competition among the different schools to produce rank-holders and more distinctions and first classes force the schools to burden the students with extra-classes, mock-exams and add to their mental pressure and anxiety to perform well. It also scraps off recreation periods like physical education, co-curricular activities periods extra to squeeze in more hours of science, maths, history and economics. The poor students, are hardly left with ant time for play or to do crafts or arts to refresh and rejenuate their minds.

With busy schedules of morning tutions, school hours and evening extra-classes and tests children are often busier than their working parents, coming home later than them. More over students are also many at times forced to study subjects that they don't have even the slightest inclination for. Pressure from teachers, parents and peers force many to students to take up subjects not of their choice, especially after completion of Class 10, ending up frustrating their lives. Lack of counselling and proper guidance in their academic careers add to the woes of the students.

Parents and the school like to project their wards are exemplary and over-achievers, often forcing students to juggle between sports, arts and academics against their wishes. Often students are made to take up dance or painting classes or tennis or badminton against their wishes so that the school and their parents can show-off their trophy-kids. Many a times these kids end up exhausting their energy even before thay reach their teenage. Encouraging children to take up co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are fine as long as they are enjoying it and not tiring themselves out to achieve the fatansies their parents once had for themselves.

It is a highly competitive world in itself and children too do worry about their future propspects and put pressure on themselves to do better. On to it are added demands and pressure from parents and the school. Parents and teachers compare a child's performance with another one and demoralizes the weaker kid. Harsh punishment systems followed in schools that embarass and cause physical and mental pain to the students also make life for students tougher. There are many children who suffer from high/low blood pressure problems and take medication for hypertension and other disorders even at such young ages. Lack of proper sleep, nightmares of failures and admonishment and high stress levels are common phenomena among students today. And those students who cannot cope up with all these pressure end up ending their lives. The student suicide rate has increased over the years and parental pressure is one of the reasons for it.

Learning a child's strengths and encouraging him/her to take up such activities that can enhance his/her strenths and downplay the weaknesses should be the key to a better educational system. Today's educational system is based more on marks than merits and in the run-up to secure more marks in uninteresting subjects chidren often forget their dreams and desires. The sytem is actually killing the child and making a machine out of him/her that can produce 90+ marks and go on to be an engineer or doctor or scientist and nothing else.

Children forget to enjoy the small pleasures of life like enjoying the first rains, playing football just for the fun of it rather than for getting the best players award, trekking through the wilderness etc. Letting a child be what he or she is while at the same time monitoring and channelising their strengths and talents is what schools are supposed to do. Bringing up the nest generation in the right way is no men task and doesnot simply include reading to them from textbooks and drawing diagrams on the board but includes talking to them at personal and understanding them for what they are. Applying the right amount of pressure can mould the raw talent into a reliable and wonderful personality but excess pressure can damage the item and the raw talent would be lost to both his/her near and dear ones as well as to the society.

Gitanjali Maria