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TOO MUSH ASSIGNMENT IS AN ABUSE!


Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or  inaction, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. Against this backdrop,  28.3% of adults report being physically abused as a child, 20.7% of adults report being sexually abused as a child, and most importantly, When a parent or caregiver harms a child’s mental and social development, or causes severe emotional harm, emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that causes damage over time. A whooping 43.6% of adults report being emotionally abused as a child.
The emotional, social and physical development of young children has a direct effect on their overall development and on the adult they will become.

O yes! Too much assignments can cause a range of emotional defects. Children who are constantly ladden, hypnotized, terrorized or fixiated with so called ample of assignments suffer at least as much, if not more, than if they are physically assaulted. According to the Joyful Heart Foundation, brain development of the child is greatly influenced and responds to the experiences with teachers, families, and the community. Abused children can grow up experiencing insecurities, low self-esteem, and lack of development. Many abused children experience ongoing difficulties with trust, social withdrawal, trouble in school, and forming relationships.
They become infused with the "you must do this assignment" like their lives depend on it!

Really, what are we trying to achieve? Are we any different from thieves? Stealing their creativity and childness. These Children are meant to experience reactive attachment disorder (RAD). RAD is defined as markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness, that usually begins before the age of 5 years. RAD can present as a persistent failure to start or respond in a developmentally appropriate fashion to most social situations. The long-term impact of this abuse is too numerous to mention. It has been linked to increased depression, anxiety, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. A classical zombie.

As a result of this menace, it leads to impaired brain development. Thereby, causing important regions of the brain to fail to form or grow properly, resulting in impaired development. These alterations in brain maturation have long-term consequences for cognitive, language, and academic abilities.
A 1989 survey taken by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found that 96% of surveyed school systems had at least 1 recess period. Another survey a decade later found that only 70% of even kindergarten classrooms had a recess period.

Currently, many school children are given less free time and fewer physical outlets at school; many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics. This change may have implications on children’s ability to store new information, because children’s cognitive capacity is enhanced by a clear-cut and significant free period. Reduced time for physical activity may be contributing to the discordant academic abilities of children to incorporate what they learnt in school.

When Wibur and Orville invented the first world aircraft on December 17th, 1903, it was not as a result of the manyness of their assignments but it was as a result of the creativity that got stirred in them when their father in 1878 brought home a toy helicopter made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band. Wilbur and Orville played with it until it broke, and then built their own. In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the spark of their interest in flying.

Martin Luther King. He became known for his public speaking ability and was part of the school's debate team. When King was thirteen in 1942, he became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta journal. During which he won the first prize in an oratorical contest.

Bill Gates, the richest man in the world. At 13, he enrolled in the Lakeside school. When Gates was in the eighth grade, the Mothers' Club bought a Teletype Model 33 for the school's students. Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC, and was excused from math classes to pursue his interest in quotes. Which he wrote his first computer program.

It is obvious that these persons and many more were not trapped in the veil of ASSIGNMENT. Guess what? Active learning encourages participation and hones problem-solving skills. Homework does not provide these kinds of opportunities and eliminates time for self-motivated play that could build intuition, imagination, or problem-solving skills. It also limits a child's time to explore his own interests, which could provide ground for career choices later. Researchers have found that there is very little correlation between the amount of homework and academic success. It is recommended that children have 10 minutes of homework for every grade level to get the best results. Anything above this level is considered excessive, counter-productive and abusive.
A researcher at Boston College, who published his findings on homework and struggling learners in “Current Issues in Education” in 2003 found that when teens struggled with their home wo-
rk assignments, it had a negative and disruptive effect on the whole family too.

All these been said, encourage your children's interest to be all they can be by allowing them some quality time to reflect on their inborn drive, to discovery their destiny, to explore their challenges in a supportive and congenial environment, to hone their skills in areas of their interest. Truth be told, actually who assignments help? Been born in a bakery does not make you a loaf of bread other than been buried in piles of assignments does not make you a success.

And lastly, learning transcends the four walls of a classroom and the avalanche of home works meant to keep the child from playing or responding freely in an atmosphere of learning. The truth of the matter is that some lazy teachers box the children with assignments in a bid to reduce their scheme of works or lack the desiderated skills to solve the problems. Oops!

I leave you with this question, is the goal to educate the children or to strip them of their humanity.

Richmond Akhigbe,
Strategic Coach | CPT

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