Those lazy, crazy days of summer

I am convinced that long school hours impact the cognitive and physical abilities of children. While I could not muster the funds to undertake this study, I am convinced of it when I see the faces of exhausted and bored children come out of schools. This is because enough studies have proven how key unstructured time is for the overall development of a child. However, the more progressive schools that offer holistic curriculum cater to the working or busy parent who could not be bothered to deal with their children beyond a few hours. The traditional schools continue to exemplify the veritable Pink Floyd song -- brick by painful brick!

I have heard innumerable parents complain about how they are "dreading" summer holidays as their children are a "handful." My heart breaks every time I hear such words and I cannot hep but think back to my blissful childhood:

"Summer break! What it meant for us and how we awaited it. Two months of pure unconditional bliss. No parent argued its length and no school was tempted/forced to reduce it.

Two months of spending time with family--immediate and extended. Visiting cousins and relatives in slow train and bus journeys or spending time with our folks in the mountains of then UP and Himachal. Two months of planning various things with friends including early morning walks and cycling trips down to the neighbourhood parks. Unstructured days of bliss. One could just continue to sit in on debates and discussions ranging from science and politics to films and literature late into the nights in some bohemian households, while in others one watched movies on loop or planned escapades and detective clubs. How much one imbibed and learned through all this in terms of pure knowledge, social interaction, differing personalities and freedom of thought and expression. The discussions and debates would range from the most cheerful to the most argumentative and yet at the end of it, everyone parted as friends. One understood about differing opinions not defining relationships...

I rue the fact that today many kids have shrunk vacations and long office-hour duration workdays. Parents want less and less of holidays and despite the education system claiming to be student-oriented the opinion of the child matters the least in the world today. Human connect has lost its value, so all parents search for summer camps for the kids. Most parents say they find it tough to "handle" their kids at home...

With no internet and OTTs--I never heard a parent rue holidays for a child. They had so much to worry about from long queues for buses to gas and water connections and yet we were never a "nuisance."

Wish we could think of our blissful childhood, and give a fraction of the same to our children. They deserve it before life takes over.

Today the hapless child is caught between the demands of busy parents and schools that want to pack in more than adults can digest in a day. The alternative? Join a traditional school and come out of the grind -- pureed and deep fried to continue running the mill.

PS: No one wants pandemic-induced lockdowns but a balance helps. If we really mean for our children to be kind and empathetic creatures. Values sadly lacking in the world today.

#development #school #education #pedagogy