Autumn 2015 - The Pre and Primary School Guide | Page 9

parenting

home from school, made themselves a sandwich and then cruised the
neighbourhood by bike until just before dark. Children today spend their
afternoons in aftercare, doing mountains of homework only to continue
homework when they get home. It seems that the amount of homework
has increased over time, probably due to the pressure on teachers and
size of classes. Individual attention from teachers is not as evident as it was
when we were at school.

Teenagers were not put under so much pressure with regard to
education back in our time. Nowadays, education is so important that no
one really cares about
what you learned,
the grade you get is
what matters most. Of
course, education has
always been important,
but it never used to be
so competitive. What
matters now is that
you obtain a varsity
entrance and get that
dream job. Jobs are a
lot scarcer and there
are more people to
compete against for
that dream job, so
parents put a lot of
pressure on children to
achieve. Everyone you
meet along the way is
just a random obstacle. Things were different when I grew up, if you excelled
at school it was because you wanted to, children didn’t need calming
medication before an exam.

Today’s children tend to get pocket money for doing nothing,
it’s just the norm of the era. Kids of previous years got rewarded for chores
and good behaviour, or had to beg for R5 if they wanted to go to a movie.
Entertainment, like going to the cinema, ice-skating or out for a meal were
real treats and happened rarely. Pocket money was more often spent on
sweets at the cafe or arcade games. Kids of today are constantly going
out for entertainment and need pocket money to fund these regular events.
Back in the day, very few children ate junk food or take-aways regularly and
hamburgers and toasted sandwiches were a special treat once in a while
on weekends. Nowadays children go out for dinner and/or are given takeaways once or twice a week. Take-aways are no longer only burgers and
chips but have evolved into sushi, seafood and gourmet meals.

pre & primary school guide • autumn 2015

There was less importance given to what others thought about
you. Kids back then would enjoy the company of their friends and come
back home. Compare that to kids who ‘check in on Foursquare’ before
entering a restaurant, take photos of the food they eat, and “chat” with
their friends on “facebook” messenger , BBM, “WhatsApp”, WeChat or
some other social media and rarely bother with personal conversations.

When asked, what you did for fun, most of today’s children
answered that they like to chill or relax. Since when did children need
relaxation? My generation rode bikes, swam in the summer and played
outside.

Our
survey
revealed that things
most certainly have
changed over time,
mainly due to the
pressures of modern
day
living
and
technology.
There is
a
definite
increase
in the choices that
children today have
in terms of activities,
entertainment,
technology
and
meals.
Unfortunately,
the
choice
comes
with added pressure,
lifestyle diseases and
more safety concerns
compared to the relatively simple lives we led.

Whether you believe your childhood to be better or
not, things have changed so much that children cannot lead the lives we
did. We need to embrace the good that today offers like technology and
choice and be mindful of the things that are in our control like quality time,
quality meals and quality face–to-face relationships.
Kate
Graphic Designer and mother of 3 children
Johannesburg

7