A childhood devoid of play and quality time with parents would likely lead to rebellion in adolescence, parenting groups said on Wednesday, in response to an intensive schedule for two elementary schoolers that went viral online.
A Taipei-based cram school on Tuesday posted on Facebook praising the achievements of two siblings named Felix and Jenny, who are in sixth and fourth grade respectively.
The post included their weekly schedule, which leaves time for only six hours and 20 minutes of sleep every night.
Photo: Taipei Times
According to the schedule, they wake up at 5:50am every day for two hours of Kumon work before attending elementary school and cram school on the weekdays until 7pm, then practicing piano and English until 11:30pm. They do homework and eat dinner on the bus.
The weekend is also packed with homework, class, piano practice, swimming lessons and other activities, showing no scheduled down time.
The post went viral on many parenting groups, with some calling for the case to be reported for child abuse.
Sleeping so little every day is not good for a child’s growth, National Alliance of Parents Organization chairman Hsiao Tung-yuan (蕭東原) said.
The organization sees many cases in which the parents organize excessive activities for their child, but it is not clear whether the child actually enjoys it, he said.
Especially prior to middle school, many children try their best to comply with their parents’ wishes, he said.
However, if it continues for a long time, Hsiao said he fears it would create significant conflict once they become teenagers.
Self-directed study and play is especially important in elementary school, sometimes teaching more than school does, he said.
“Classes and lessons should not replace quality time with parents,” Action Alliance on Basic Education chairman Wang Han-yang (王瀚陽) said.
Many parents underestimate the importance of free time, he said, adding that the schedule leaves no time for interaction, reflection or play.
Wang encouraged parents to communicate more with their children, ask questions and observe their interests in order to support them, or else it would be difficult for children to express their thoughts.
A Chinese military drone was spotted conducting reconnaissance off Taitung County as President William Lai (賴清德) visited Pingtung County this morning to inspect a drill of the armed forces’ precision-strike capabilities, prompting the military to closely monitor its actions. Today was the final day of a three-day military exercise at Jioupeng Base (九鵬基地) to test the joint combat capabilities of the armed forces and coast guard. The exercise began on Wednesday simulating air defense interception and yesterday tested long-range strike capabilities and new air defense weapons. This morning, the military conducted a final exercise involving air defense, anti-ship and drone operations. Military sources said
OCT. 31: The antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Eraflu have been distributed to about 4,000 medical facilities nationwide for people in seven groups who develop flu-like symptoms As the domestic influenza epidemic enters its peak season and continues to escalate, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced that publicly funded influenza antiviral drugs for seven eligible groups have been extended to Oct. 31, allowing those who develop flu-like symptoms to receive the medication without undergoing a rapid influenza test. The CDC has extended the expanded use of flu antiviral drugs to seven groups: healthcare and influenza-prevention personnel; residents and staff at nursing homes, long-term care facilities and similar institutions; kindergarten and daycare workers and home-based caregivers; students from kindergarten through high school, vocational high school and the
RARE PEEK: The footage released showed one of the bears staying in a cave for as long as 70 days, providing the first record of Formosan black bear’s overwintering The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday released tracking records of released Formosan black bears for the first time, showing that they get much closer to human settlements than previously thought. The agency said it had captured two bears, Da Qu-ali (達古阿里) and Aziman (阿里曼), in indigenous villages in Hualien County and began to track them with a camera-mounted satellite collar after releasing them back into the wild. The results confirmed that the bears have moved from deep mountain areas into lowland hills closer to human communities, leading to an increase in human-bear conflicts, it said. The agency has introduced artificial intelligence-assisted early
Taiwanese Tsai Chin-shu (蔡金樹), who had been imprisoned in China for engaging in activity that “endangers national security,” said on Facebook on Friday that he has returned to Taiwan. Tsai, chairman of the Southern Taiwan Union of Cross-strait Relations Associations, had traveled frequently between Taiwan and China for years, and at one time ran a trading company in China’s Pingtan. In July 2018, he traveled to Quanzhou, Fujian Province, to attend a cross-strait food trade fair and stayed at a hotel in Xiamen. He checked out the following day and then disappeared. His family had made repeated appeals to the authorities
RSS