Children face 'intense pressure'

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

Children face "excessive" pressure to do well at school and conform to the commercial values of the modern world, a major report into public views has found.

There is widespread concern that family life is "breaking down" and the culture of respect is disappearing, according to Cambridge University's Primary Review.

In the first of a series of research papers, the Primary Review uncovered a national mood of anxiety that children are being forced to grow up too soon.

Primary Review director Robin Alexander said: "For a Government which has invested so much in its drive to raise educational standards, there is a battle for hearts and minds to be won.

"The unease about the present and pessimism about the future which we uncovered as we travelled round the country and talked to many people both inside and outside education cannot so easily be explained away.

"If things are going so well, why are people so worried?"

The report, Community Soundings, identified a series of widely held concerns such as, that children "are under intense and perhaps excessive pressure from the policy-driven demands of their schools and the commercially-driven values of the wider society".

It also found fears that life for young children outside school "is increasingly insecure and, in many areas, dangerous". It also said people fear that the pressures of school Sats tests for 11-year-olds dominate the last two years of primary education and distort the curriculum.

A spokeswoman for Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We are committed to improving the lives of children and young people right across the country and we are making substantial progress.

"The Government does not share the view that children are over-tested. Tests help parents and teachers monitor the progress of children and ensure they get the help they need."

Discuss.

Guest · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:31 pm Post subject:

Eventually children locking themselves in their rooms and refusing to come out will become a standard worry in nations.

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

I think that we've come to the point were we need to realise that pushing so hard doesn't help.

We've lost sight of what its all about.

XD-bear · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject:

agreed...

but some people respond to this...

im undecided as to what is best for the child

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

Don't you think that its all a waste of time?

Who looks back on there life and thinks "you know what, I wish I spent more time slogging my guts out at work"?

People need to chill more, lifes to short to waste it stressin'

XD-bear · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:09 pm Post subject:

yeah... but putting work into school now means you can maby live a more comfortable easy life

many people look back and say i wish id tried harder in school

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

No, it realy doesn't. People who push themselves to hard have never got the time to live a comforable easy life.

Many people don't understand the reality.

XD-bear · Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:54 pm Post subject:

true but living in poverty means you have to work more hours and cant afford to enjoy your leisure time as much as you might wish...

for some of course

Tamonten · Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject:

Children shouldn't have to worry about school at all. It hsould be an environment where they're learning without knowing it. Once they reach secondary/high school then they can catch a glimpse of higher education and be preparded for it rather than sitting them in an exam hall and letting them know the hard way.

I'm doing A-levels now and minus the basic reading, writing, maths etc that I need to be above peasant intelligence; there's nothing that benfitted me from school until I reached the beginning of my GCSEs.

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

I think the problem really is that the goverment is over keen on setting targets and sticking there noses in matters that didn't need fixing.

Look at the NHS, the've made a right pigs ear of that.

The year three SATs are a waste of teaching time, what the hell is the point in testing 6-7 year olds?

XD-bear · Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:16 pm Post subject:

true.

but actually my only problem with the system is that our exams are all one after the other ... id kind of prefer if there was more space between them

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

They'd just fill the gap with coursework.

XD-bear · Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject:

still easier to study for them

alx · Wanker Age: 16 Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 3301

But never ending.

XD-bear · Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject:

until that is ... they end??????