My lovely niece got her first letter in mail yesterday. It was my sis who opened it and called me up immediately afterwards. While she was talking to me, I could hear my brother-in-law laughing in the background. I begged my sis to dictate some of the matter of that letter to me over the phone. She used to blog quite frequently, and she was game for it, she even dictated some of the fonts and bullet points used. The letter said:
“Do you know what is the biggest challenge your child will face in life?”
It went on,
“The biggest challenge your child faces today is to be a winner, there is more and more competition everyday:
- For admissions to good schools
- For performing brilliantly in school
- For higher studies abroad
- For setting up profitable ventures
- For becoming successful in life
If you want to prepare your child to face these challenges you decision to choose the right playschool is crucial.
Half of the child’s adult intelligence is formed during the first four years … Kindergarten is too late. It is amazing infants are capable of doing … they can differentiate taste and smell by the age of one month …
We promise child friendly environment, expert and loving teachers and ideal peer group. We have prepared 10,000 children for life.. and help make you a perfect parent. You can afford ‘Mother’s Pride’ but not afford to miss it.”
My sister was laughing her head off, while she was narrating this to me. I always knew there is a lot of a pressure to perform well in studies in India, my two school going nephews are facing it and we live with it daily.
But I never knew it could be this bad. They are really trying to catch them young these days, my little darling is just three months old and if you take your face close to hers, she takes out her tongue and licks it! And that is why my sis finds no time to blog. I say leave her alone you ‘Mother’s Pride’ and all that.
I so completely agree with you. Its sad to see yound kids spending more time in tution classes rather then just having plain fun with their friends…or their dog for that matter.
with institutes vying to hone the skills of the new generation at each and every step of life, the level of competetiveness is pushed up. this could possibly result in further evolution of the human species….
These institues have come up for only one reason. The reason is not they are greedy or we are fools, the reason is that we forgot to LIVE OUR LIVES. We lost our lives among the competition for a successful LIFE. So these people know that you understand that the younger you loose your LIFE, the more successful you will be in LIFE. This is not a laughing matter, its a question of living and surviving. So are you going to prepare your little darling to survive or live?
Scary it is, all that pressure put on young people, even before they are walking & talking! Childhood should be fun, it’s the one time in life where one is free to just be, at least that’s how I was raised.
Why, the right preschool is crucial! Right after a loving and supportive family, good nutrition, enough sleep, lots of time to play…We received one letter like that, as I remember. I threw it away nearly as fast as I opened it.
To me this is scary. I think there is already too much pressure on school-going kids. And to start as an infant! What is the country coming to? I think the days when we were going up was much better – I don’t remember being under pressure ever. My parents emphasised the importance of education, but never overlooked other aspects of growing up. I believe we have done well in life, and so will the youngsters of today, even without any pressure. What also worries me is that increasingly parents are getting into a competitive mode – my child is better than yours kinds. And that to me is not really healthy.
That happens over here too, among the wealthier classes who are concerned with getting their children into the “right” schools. It’s just sad. Where in the world did they get her name?
post a picture of ur niece…we also want to see that little angel…
Never knew solicitation through postal mail was becoming a big thing in India too. It is pretty common in US – infact I end up trashing atleast 70% of my mail for this reason.BTW I think the blogging world is getting infected by such solicitation too. Many times I see comments on my posts where clearly people are just trying to advertise their own commercial websites. Anybody know how to avoid this, any special settings that can be used ?
Right Sakshi, and this kid is just three months old!Poison, your sarcasm is well directed.Senthil, could you not make that out from my post? Crystal, it certainly is scary and Teri that kiddo is just three months old as of now.Emma, you are right, I do not remember doing insane amount of holiday homework ever.Lily, my guess they got it from the hospital where my niece was born, or they are situated in the neighborhood where my sis lives and somehow came to know.Avik, I am hesitant I do not know why, but my brother-in-law has quite a few on his site :)HIs link is available in the post.Pooja just switch the word verification on. it will take care of unwanted spam in comments.
Ah another of those crazy scams! I have never understood what sort of value they really add by stressing those poor kids…Actually, one should blame those parents who actually in believe in this sort of BS and send their kids.
I guess atleast the media has recognized the fact that kids today are going in the wrong direction…Check this link for more information:http://people.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/1292156.cms
Hi, thanks for posting this letter. It is so full of crap that it is laughable, and it is nice that your sis and b-i-l are laughing. Sadly, however, your family (along with many others) are in a tiny, and ever decreasing minority. The rest have already bought into this bogus idea that good schools ‘guarantee’ success.Consider this: Everytime a ‘good’ school in Bangalore (for example, the National Public School) issues applications for admission into its KG program, they would be lucky to have it — the issuing process — run without having a stampede on their campus! I am sure it is the same everywhere.
Our society’s pre-occupation with ‘marks’, ‘ranks’ is one of the greatest mysteries! Back in my school days, whenever I met a relative.. the first question that would pop up is “what is your rank in class??”. These days, I am better off..as I am not meeting many relatives :))
Deepak, you are right, after all two year olds can’t make that decision on their own.Venkat, thanks for the link, but so many advertising targeted at young kids, and so few articles written like that.Abi, my husband did part of his schooling from NPS, Bangalore! He says it was not so hip back then but getting in was difficult even then. Yes, it is that bad everywhere, but somehow my family is not so keen on designer or hip schools, we never went to one, but back then there were not so many.Aswin, I completely agree with you, that is the first question asked and heaven forbid if your rank is not in top three. Good to hear that you are ‘better off!’
couldn’t agree more with you …
the uk givt has plans to introduce a curriculum for kids under the age of three so they improve their reading, writing and numeracy skills instead of ‘messing about in the sand pit’. yikes! talk about nuts!
Bonatellis, thank you.The ramblings of a shoe fiend, I cannot believe it! Tell me it is not true.
IT IS IT IS! would i lie to you?
No, I think not. But it is so stupid.