what happened to sugar spice and everything nice?
colleagues were discussing today about why having kids has become such an ambivalent choice. a mother of two young ones lamented that there isn't any fun element in kindergarten anymore. all they do is work on maths and languages with worksheets given on a daily basis. another said the social climate here is stifling, yet the option of migrating may spell a whole slew of problems ranging from racism to unemployment.
i get where all this is coming from. my kids are now 10 & 12 with one in sec one. the latter suffered the ridiculous stress of streaming where one's inability to handle the second language would doom them in a limited route of tertiary education. yes, at 10 they would have their futures decided if they'd ever make it the conventional way or doomed to be technically-inclined or only worthy of courses in taking dictation and filing. at 10.
at 10 my sole concern was whether i could master the roller skates. at 10 i looked forward to tv programs every evening after completing a few pages of basic arithmetic or grammar. the joy of playing during recess and hopefully finishing one's primary school education so that we could some day be in a cool school like our elder siblings where they had crazy fun fairs and football games for breaks in college,according to the motley anecdotes shared by my siblings at dinner.
and now my elder kid tells me about how school ends at 6pm after commitments ranging from 'enrichment' to ccas. she's 12 and she keeps 12 hour days at school. i'm 40 and sometimes i'm home having a nap by 1pm. what's happening?
so they'll be ready for the global challenges of 2020? at the expense of a fulfilling childhood? will they become maladjusted adults who yearn for a childhood lost and end up regressing into another gen x who rejects the mere suggestion of effort and applying oneself? i know that i have seen through 2 generations and it saddens me that we've very much lost that spontaneity and fun. we've forgotten how to laugh at ourselves, to embrace the simple pleasures and merely let life take us where it will.
& i hope you'll never lose your radiance, bunny
i get where all this is coming from. my kids are now 10 & 12 with one in sec one. the latter suffered the ridiculous stress of streaming where one's inability to handle the second language would doom them in a limited route of tertiary education. yes, at 10 they would have their futures decided if they'd ever make it the conventional way or doomed to be technically-inclined or only worthy of courses in taking dictation and filing. at 10.
at 10 my sole concern was whether i could master the roller skates. at 10 i looked forward to tv programs every evening after completing a few pages of basic arithmetic or grammar. the joy of playing during recess and hopefully finishing one's primary school education so that we could some day be in a cool school like our elder siblings where they had crazy fun fairs and football games for breaks in college,according to the motley anecdotes shared by my siblings at dinner.
and now my elder kid tells me about how school ends at 6pm after commitments ranging from 'enrichment' to ccas. she's 12 and she keeps 12 hour days at school. i'm 40 and sometimes i'm home having a nap by 1pm. what's happening?
so they'll be ready for the global challenges of 2020? at the expense of a fulfilling childhood? will they become maladjusted adults who yearn for a childhood lost and end up regressing into another gen x who rejects the mere suggestion of effort and applying oneself? i know that i have seen through 2 generations and it saddens me that we've very much lost that spontaneity and fun. we've forgotten how to laugh at ourselves, to embrace the simple pleasures and merely let life take us where it will.
& i hope you'll never lose your radiance, bunny