Child education, homework, punishment and laxity

Child education is one of the problems facing societies around the world. In poor countries, a large percentage of children can’t have access to school. For these societies, they have the problem of building and funding schools and then campaigning among parents to send their children to school, especially girls.

On the issue of school homework children should do, it is essential for them to do it. Children today are exposed to many facets of life since their early years. At home they have TV and the Internet which can take too much of their time. As they are still young, they mustn’t be exposed to too many activities which will just make them lose focus on any particular thing. Homework, which mustn’t be stressful or too much time taking is the best way for them to develop skills and strategies later in their higher studies and when entering the labour market. It helps them to remain focused on the curriculum and to make the most of their studies.

Children in their education need guidance at home and at school. But there are families who leave it all to school to take care of their children. In some Asian countries like Singapore, children are under too much stress because their parents want them to be achievers by forcing them to keep studying for more than ten hours a day leaving them little time to enjoy their childhood by playing like children and not keep under stress like adults.

There should be a balance between leisure, school hours and homework to ease the stress on children. Laxity and punishment are the major threat to a child school achievement. Children should be taught to be responsible for what they learn. Children by nature are competitive. They don’t like to be losers even in games. Studies should be based on creating competition among them and helping those lagging behind. It is usually uninterested children who are the source of trouble in a school, as they have no other means to impose themselves but to create trouble. Physical punishment is no deterrent because of the legal implications. There can be other methods like suspending a child from school at least for a normal atmosphere for the disciplined one.

In education, there are no successful methods to teach concerning the how and what. Education is carried within a social reality that continues changing. The dilemma that remains is how educational methods should be reflective of social needs and how school should remain a space for learning and exploring one's potentials within a free and responsible atmosphere and not a ward where children are kept without understanding their basic needs.