The Undue Pressure

 

Recently a Delhi University Professor wrote an article in which she talked about her child being an "average student" and she is contented about it. She noted that her child is average in studies, sports, and extracurricular activities and she is "content" with it, not only this she instructed her child's teachers not to pressurize her child for performing well in any activity of the school. This scenario seems like heaven for most children in India and for some parents it can be a living hell for some parents who has lots of expectation from their children.

Almost around the globe, except in some Nordic countries, children are usually pressurized to outperform their peers. Every adult in his childhood at some point in time has faced a situation where they themselves as a child were compared with the other child for their academic or individual performance. This pressure becomes more severe in developing countries like India, where there is huge competition in all spheres of life be it the NEET Examination, Engineering Entrance Exams, or now the Unified Entrance Test for admission in Central universities.

Children are pressurized to outperform in their school, especially in academics where scores below 90% seem like a blot on parents' dignity. This system works very well till the +2/higher secondary/inter-college level because children manage to get higher grades/marks because of the ROTE learning, but the game changes when they have to give the entrance exams for the sake of admission to the academic Institutes for higher studies. But these exams are a different ball game altogether, these exams need a basic understanding of the concepts instead of ROTE learning.

Thus students who were outperforming in their schools because of the faulty evaluation and learning processes, find it hard to adjust to an environment where there is intense competition, this pressure further increases for the student of low-income groups families, as the often the studies of these economically weaker section students gets sponsored by their parents by taking the money from moneylenders and keeping their assets such as jewelry and lands as the collateral. This indirectly burdens these children and when they don't perform well in examinations or not been able to adjust to the new competitive environment they commit suicide, as we have seen in the suicide cases of the NEET aspirants in Southern India and IIT aspirants in Kota in Rajasthan.

However, the approach and example set by the Delhi University professor feel like a breath of fresh air, where the child is not laden with undue expectations. This approach not only unburdens the child but also, encourages the child to venture into new horizons, also, this will save the child from the mental trauma that emerged due to undue comparison and might help the children to accept their respective flaws and walk on the paths of their choice.

I think other parents should also take the cue from the Delhi University professor and not force their expectations on their child and teach their child to accept their flaws and enjoy their uniqueness, maybe they become the next Sachin, Smriti Mandahana, Zakir Hussain, or Abdul Kalam among other or even if they remain average human then its ok too, at least they are living the life of their individual choice with contentment.