In today’s society, academic expectations place a heavy burden on our children’s shoulders. Is it for their good, or is it actually counter-productive?

Doing well academically is thought to make it easier for students to eventually land high-paying jobs in the future. As most parents want their children to be successful and lead fulfilling lives in the future, they tend to emphasise the importance of academics.

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Children need to understand the significance of academics.

Firstly, it is important for parents to educate their children about how academics will affect their futures. As your child might not be sure about what career he/ she want to take on in future, and his/ her aspirations may even change after they decide on a path, it is necessary to have a good academic foundation to keep their options open. Without academic qualifications, it is challenging, by society’s expectations, to get a decent paying job, let alone a high-paying one.

For that reason, it would be good to have a talk with your children to get to know about their aspirations and to advise them to do well in their academics in order to reach their goals. Regardless of which career path your children choose, a good academic background will serve as a “safety net”, in case things do not turn out as planned.

 

Academics teach children the importance of “means to an end”.

Children, especially when they’re young, do not always understand why they have to study subjects such as Science, Mathematics and even their Mother Tongue language.

They may ask, “Why do I have to study this if I might not have a use for this in future when I’m an adult?”

These questions could also lead to more questions like, “Mommy, Daddy, do you find that what you’ve studied in school applicable to your working life now?”

It is true that not all of the academic content that students are required to study might be useful later on in their lives. However, maintaining academic rigour despite knowing that the content might not be applicable to their futures is important, as it will teach them the concept of “means to an end”!

In life, people often have to do things that have no apparent value or meaning in the present but contribute significantly to future plans and rewards. One simple example would be work: some people do not enjoy their daily jobs, but continue to grind it out to earn money to feed their families!

Therefore, parallels can be drawn between studying seemingly unimportant subjects now to achieve good academic results, and other endeavours they might have to take on in future. Explaining this principle to your children will help them understand the significance of academics!

 

Focusing on holistic development.

Apart from academic development and achievements, it is also undeniably important for children to develop holistically. Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) are now heavily emphasised on as they can help children discover and develop a talent that could turn out to be significant in their future. They also help to keep your children’s interests diverse and help their psychological and physical development. Sports CCAs help to develop physical fitness, hand-eye coordination and teamwork, while Arts CCAs help to develop the musical ability and appreciation of culture.

Character development is also important. Besides CCAs, learning how to socialise with others, the importance of resilience and time management are some examples of essential values that you should educate your children about.

Academics are important, but it is not advisable to neglect your children’s holistic development while in the pursuit of good academic grades!

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Avoid putting too much pressure on your children.

Sometimes, pressure from parents can be detrimental to a student’s grades. According to research conducted by the American Psychological Association, children may perform better in school if they are taught that failure is a normal part of learning rather than being pressured to succeed academically at all costs.

As mentioned previously, the importance of academics must be taught to your children. However, this does not equate to burdening them with unrealistic expectations. Doing so could actually be detrimental to their grades and be counter-productive, as they might lose focus on the curriculum when they worry too much about the negative consequences of not doing well enough.

Therefore, making a distinction between emphasis on academics and pressuring children to do well academically must be made! Giving your child guidance on how to achieve better results would be more productive than chiding them or showing your disappointment when they do not meet your expectations.

 

In conclusion…

Due to how important academic results are, it is necessary to place emphasis on the importance of academic results. It is also equally essential to allow children to understand why they need to put in effort into their schoolwork. However, holistic development should not be neglected and caution should be taken to avoid putting too much pressure on your children to ensure that they can reach their full potential.

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