When Parents Push Too Hard
It is perfectly natural for parents to want the best for their child- to be eager to prepare him for life's challenges and help him to shine. These good intentions, however, can be carried to extremes. And when teaching becomes pushing and encouragement turns into command, the uicr tunate result may be an anxious, rather th12n an achieving. youngster.
In recent decades, research studies focusing on the immense learning potential of babies and young children led some psychologists to advocate structured education for preschoolers, toddlers and even infants. Attempting to capitalize on what they saw as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to develop their child's brain power, many parents took up teaching their youngsters with a passion. The result was a phenomenon that came to be called the Superkid movement: One could find flashcards held in front of six-month-old infants, toddlers drilled in spelling and preschoolers driven from tennis lessons to computer classes to tutoring sessions in art appreciation and algebra.
Did these educated youngsters really get a valuable head start in life? Most developmental experts say the answer is no. In fact, thany child psychologists are convinced that the educational benefit so such drills are transient, and they fear that the negative emotional lessons last all too long. Youngsters who are coached in the right answer to every question, these experts say, can become atradLo think for themselves. Pressured children often learn to fear failure at an age when they should be constantly testing new ideas. Such children might even come to feel that they are loved for their achievements, not for themselves. Worst of all, every day of pushing roos children of what they need mosttheir freewheeling hours ot cndhood exploration.
