Do Not Pressurize Your Kids:
A few days ago, I was talking to a neighbor and she was ranting about how her daughter, who is in standard 1, scored only 96%. This conversation left me pondering over where we are headed as a society. Children are not allowed to be children anymore.
Now, we burden them with the responsibility of being the best at academics and outrunning everyone else from a young age. Are you also guilty of doing this? Or do you know someone like this? I bet you know several parents like this.
Okay, I kinda get it - this need to prove to others that your kid is the best. But is it really helping your child or just harming their mental health? High expectations from your children are not necessarily bad but pressuring them to live up to your expectations is. Let’s check out some impacts of putting too much pressure on your kids to understand why it's bad.
Negative Impacts of Putting Too Much Pressure on Kids
Higher risk of injuries
Nowadays, academic excellence is not the only parents expect from their kids. They want their kids to be great at sports, music, dance, etc., too. Athletes have a high risk of injury. Well, that is not an unknown fact. But some kids may practice without waiting for their injuries to heal to please their parents. This could lead to permanent damage.
Might Prompt Them to Cheat
When you put extreme pressure on them to score better rather than helping them learn, they are more likely to end up cheating. Cheating is rampant among kids who are pressurized to excel academically.
Higher Risk of Mental Illness
There is so much pressure that a little kid can take without breaking. Kids who are under constant pressure from their parents suffer from anxiety and stress. Come to think of it. Don’t you also feel stressed and anxious when you have pressure at work or at home?
Extreme and unwanted pressure can result in the kids developing mental illnesses such as depression, eating disorders, etc. No wonder the student suicide rate is increasing.
Sleep Deprivation
Children should get at least 8 hours of sleep. Children who are pressurized by their parents might stay up late to study and lose out on their sleep. You might have even come across parents who scold their children for not staying up late or waking early in the morning to study.
What’s so bad about losing out on a few hours of sleep? Well, sleep deprivation has many harmful effects, including weakened immunity, mood changes, memory issues, trouble thinking and concentrating, high blood pressure, and the list goes on.
What Can You Do?
So, putting too much pressure would only be harmful in the long run. So what can you do instead of that? Here are some tips:
Laud them for their achievements and tell them you’re proud of them for putting in the effort to perform so well.
Encourage them to be a better version of themselves. But don't focus on the result, and encourage them throughout the process.
Encourage them to maintain a healthy sleep schedule.
Teach them strong values and make sure you give more importance to them over grades.
Share your own failures with your kids and how you overcame them. This will teach them that not being successful on the first try is okay, struggling is okay.
Commentaires