Is the younger generation getting too spoiled? |
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By LKC  I'm sure all of us, as parents, do not mean to spoil and coddle our children. Especially in today's day and age, where technology is so prevalent in today's society, within the premises of any Kopitiam or coffee shop we can easily spot children being more obsessed with their cartoons or games on their iPad or smartphone rather than engaging in conversation with their family members. I'm sure as parents we would all shake our heads in dismay at the state of our child's generation, lamenting that we would never make that same mistake of giving the child a device which would shorten their attention spans, or distract them from family bonding time. Also I'm sure that there are times where we feel obligated to use the device as a means to buy some "quiet time" for ourselves but in actual fact are we really doing our children a favour? or merely finding the easy way out as parents? My child's primary school recently shocked me with the news that ALL primary four students are required to get their own personal laptop. It has come to the point where it has become COMPULSORY, not exempting families who are unable to afford any. When asked, the school merely said that there were Financial Aid Schemes in place for those from less well-to-do families. A society where our children eventually grow into adults where interaction with fellow humans comes a distant second compared to that with electronic devices-can you see ourselves heading there already? Of course I'm not a prude, I use the computer on a daily basis and enjoy being a couch potato as well on the weekends. however, I just feel that at the young age of 10, one should not be made to bear the responsibility of owning his/her own smartphone, let alone his/her own laptop. Of course while responsibility and good character are values which must be cultivated from a young age, I just feel that the school is taking a wrong stance on this whole issue by forcing the decision onto the children and their families. This was reproduced with permission from editors of The Real Singapore. |
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