Opinion | For the love of their children, parents must cure themselves of the compulsion to compete at all costs
Alice Wu says yet another survey result of unhappy Hong Kong children begs the question why parents who are dismayed by the news nevertheless continue to pile on the pressure for their kids to excel
A friend posted a humblebrag (complete with the not-so-subtle “public” privacy setting) on her Facebook page a couple of months ago, featuring her four-year-old son, who was then in the second year of kindergarten, conquering double-digit multiplication. She included a video clip of him doing the maths, just so the world could be sure.
Treating children like show ponies is dangerous, although it is easy to fall into the trap. I genuinely enjoy seeing my friends’ social media posts and learning about what they and their family have been up to. After all, social media are sharing platforms; but where does “sharing is caring” end and “sharenting” begin? When does the harm of overexposure outweigh the benefits? And how much does this seemingly harmless social media behaviour feed the narcissistic-parenting monster within?
Such reflection points to the more fundamental question that confronts us, online and offline: how much do we truly care about our children’s happiness and well-being?
It’s hard to imagine what a “normal” childhood is today. Surely, there is plenty more for kindergarteners to do rather than mastering double-digit multiplication. But we already know that children are missing out on play because of the pressures of our test-score-obsessed world.