My Corner for Education

I believe most parents love their children dearly. But, are we, the modern parents, over-protecting our children to the point that we are diminishing the children’s abilities to adapt to the ever changing environments? This discussion came up during a conversation when we were trying to reword a memo to parents regarding the parking issue at school. We always have traffic jam before and after school in our school parking lot. I think most schools I know have the same problem. Our school parking lot is a big one, but it simply does not have the capacity of accommodating the congestion during the peak times. Many parents drive their children to school even though our school is a no-bussing school, which means all our students live within 5 to 10 minutes of walking distance to school.

 
Why can’t children walk to school? Why are they late for school? Why can’t parents read the sign “Kiss and Ride” (which means do not park your car here)? Why do we have child obesity problem? I think the answers really lie on parents’ attitude. They want their children to be safe, well protected, and well cared for. I have no objection to that, but we are dealing with a major societal phenomenon that many parents shelter their children from minimal inconvenience in life. They dropped their children off while they are on their way to work. They don’t want just “kiss and ride”; they want big hugs, too. Their big giant vans or SUVs block the path in the K&R lane, but they surely don’t care about the other parents and children who are also trying to get to school. They want to see their children off to class as well. So, in order to save themselves a few minutes, they park right in front of the school. They don’t care that they park right on the wheelchair bus lane. I guess they think those children on crutches and wheelchairs should be able to walk across the street or on the sidewalk to get to school.

Are we raising a generation of lazy people? I have a student who has missed 48 days of school. When a child misses more than 40 days of school, we have to bring the case up to the round table meeting at school about his promotion to the next level. In this case, the child would sometimes go home for lunch but failed to return in the afternoon. The parents kept him from school because they had errands to run in the afternoon. It would be another trip for them to rush back to school to pick him up. So, in order to avoid the inconvenience, they simply took the child with them for the afternoon. This happened too many times. I advised them that maybe a babysitter would be a better solution to this issue. This child’s attendance problem occurs too often. When discussing with his parents about his extended absences on the entire month of February, I was told that he is allegoric to cold and snow. (I tried very hard to control myself not to laugh.) I sincerely advised the mother that if this is a diagnosis from the doctor, then she should submit the note from the doctor to our office. I have to shake my head on this one. The child was absent on cold snowy days as well as bright sunny days. I am not trying to be cynical, but WE LIVE IN CANADA where there is icy cold and snowy weather for more than four months a year!

The truth is some parents need to help their children adapt to the environment. As far as I know, the child loves to play in the snow as long as proper attire is provided. The child has been in Canada for more than five years. He is well adjusted to the weather. No one likes to be in the cold (I came from the semi-tropic, so I know how hard it could be.), but parents need to take that initiative to encourage their children to be a risk taker, seek challenges, and strive for advancement. I have seen all kinds of parents who are overtly protective of their children. My suggestions to those parents are, to encourage your child to be more resilient to minor obstacles in life, and to be a risk taker as the challenges arrive. It is all right to tell your child to toughen up sometimes on those cold windy days. Remember, we can’t raise our next generation in a bubble.