How much can our children take?  Where is there childhood?  And why oh why, can't we just let them just play?!

We are in a dawn of age where children have to grow up fast.  Yet in our country, dear old England, it appears people are making it their mission to grow up faster than ever before.

Tests, tests and more tests are the order of the day.  If you go to any of the countries in Europe who are out-performing ours, you will find formal writing doesn't start early.  Indeed, schooling doesn't even start till age 7.  Yet by the age of 10, these children have overtaken ours.  And they dont have the boy/girl gap that we do.  
All the evidence suggests that by letting children learn through play, instead of sitting them down to write, that they will ultimetly achieve more later in their learning.  
So we look at this evidence, at the learning children do in other countries and then we send them to school for formal writing at age 4.  Then we test them on this learning.  Why?  To meet government targets that are unethical and in a lot of cases unachievable.

I sat in a class of 30 children aged 6 and 7 last year whilst they did their sats exams.  On asking at playtime what they had been doing, a seven year old boy told me 'we are doing our exams'. Unbelievable pressure on someone so young.  It has even been suggested by experts in scandanavian countries that the way we put so much pressure on children so young is tantamount to child abuse.

You know what else bugs me about the education system,

First let me explain how it works.

For children in year 1/2 aged 5/7, they work on levels, level 1 through to 3. Only the top children get level 3, most are working at 2b/2a.

Now, I know of a child in a school who is good at science. Not just good, brilliant. He is listed as Gifted and Talented in science. Yet, he only gets level 2c (worse than 2b). Why? Simply cause he is illiterate. The kid has a brilliant brain yet no matter how that its argued, the authorities wont accept it unless he can write it down.

Thats rubbish in any language, and a case in point about how crap our system is.

Children learn through play.  I say let them learn through play, and get the experience they will need in life.  I have seen no evidence to suggest that teaching children so early has any benefit in later life.  On the contrary, I see every day children aged 4-7, mainly boys, who are completely disaffected by school.  They are not ready to form letters on paper.  They are not ready to read.  And they certainly are not ready for formal schooling.  It should be a crime that children aged 5 have given up on schooling already because they are under so much pressure, being asked to jump through hoops by teachers and parents through pressure from the government and media.

There is however, substantial evidence to show that a good pre-schooling up to aged 7, involving children with formal writing when they are ready, and letting them enjoy playing with sounds will bring great benefits to them as they grow older.  When children are ready, they will learn to write formally.  But for their sake, we simply have to let them enjoy a childhood before they grow into the harsh world that is reality.

And on that note, what is it with 6 year olds having make up parties and arriving by limo?  Whatever happened to good old fashioned children's parties instead of turning children into smaller versions of adults.  Children aren't small adults, they are children and should be allowed to develop as so. It was recently reported that one toy company is selling childrens pole's so they can do pole dancing on them.  That is completely disgraceful in my and many other people's eyes and I would implore all parents to shun things like this.  Let them be children.

I leave you with this:  Only too soon will your children be 13 years old and desperate to be 18, doing all the things 18 year olds would do.  Let them be children whilst they still want to and whilst they have the ability to do so.

Next time:  Speed camera's.  Should we have more?
 

A hot topic at the moment is Respect.  All around us we are looking at a lack of respect and to be honest it usually comes against younsters by people no longer in their teens.  

There seems to be some consensus that people don't need to earn respect and that it should come automatically.  I say that is rubbish.  Respect is something that needs to be learned, needs to be earnt.

Are we teaching respect when we as parents 'enhance' our throw-away society by going out and buying something new each time something breaks.  Or putting loads on our childrens plates before simply throwing it away if its not eaten.

Are we teaching respect when a child holds the door open for us and we simply we walk through without even an acknowledgement, as seen on a daily basis, mainly by 'being in the war for you'.  Frankly a war you may or may not of fought 60 years ago has little or no impact to a 12 year old who has had everything handed to them on a plate and has never had to fight for anything.

Are we teaching respect when we take away all green spaces and stick in houses and roads, and then complain that the children play in those same roads.

The media has to take a responsibility too.  I am currently reading a newspaper that page 2 is dedicated to the fact that there are more abortions this year than last (why bother offering a service then complain when it is used), whilst a school production gets relegated to a couple of columns on page 11.
The same paper in fact that I was reading a while ago that had page 1 headlining a child suspended from school for a wild haircut (against the rules) complaining it was affecting his education and was disgraceful, whilst page 3 complained that there was a lack of authority in school.  Wonder why, eh!

The children work hard for there exam results, pass with good grades then promptly get told through the media that its only because exams are easy. The same media that complain that children dont care any more.  Wonder why, eh!

 

This is the same media that has been in uproar at the banning of 'the mosquito' a device that can only be heard by children and they cant stand the sound.  Would there be such an outroar if it was a device attacking black people, or women, or the elderly, on a completely indiscriminate basis.  That is exactly what the mosquito does, and the children probably wonder why it can even be close to legal that a device can target just them, regardless of whether they are causing trouble or simply having a chat with their mates. I certainly do.

 

They can't even choose what fashion they wear without being attacked for being 'hoodie wearing yobs'.  Wonder what would happen if the media said that every single muslim was a terrorist or every women wearing stockings is a prostitute.  Where would the respect be then.

I leave you with this:  Respect needs to be taught and earnt.  Yet, its the very generations complaining about lack of respect that have failed our children by failing to teach it.  Parents, grandparents and complaintants.  I guess its easier to blame a whole section of society rather than accept that we have caused this problem and take some personal responsibility. 

Next:  Our children, too much too soon?