Op-ed: how involved should parents be in the academic lives of their students?

by Danny Pham

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Studying is one of the necessary skills in a human’s life. It provides them with knowledge, improves their productivity, and discipline. Moreover, studying also helps humans with critical thinking and responsibility. It has been said that studying hard at young ages can positively affect children and lead them to the peak among their peers. This idea has been discussed among numbers of parents and has caused countless arguments. Although there are some advantages, its drawbacks are more significant.

First, being too strict with the kid’s study at young age can create a negative mindset in them. Children will think that life is just studying, academic competition due to parents’ expectation. They just study, put lots of stress on themselves and make their health become worse. Not only do they force kids to study hard, but some parents also neither discourage them from sports nor participating in social activities. Consequently, this will make kids shy, lack soft skills, and stay away from community which is known as the second effect (lack of soft skills). We can easily see that no parents want this to happen to their children. Lack of soft skills make it difficult for children to communicate, solve problems, manage stress, and collaborate.

By interviewing members of Greenfield School to see if parents should be strict with their kids’ study situation when they are young, I have produced some results. A freshman Larken says no and so does Max (10th grade). Max claims: “I don’t think parents should be strict their kid's study situation because when at a young age the materials you learn tend to be fun, but if parents make the conditions strict it may lead for the kid to hate what they study.” On the other hand, Ella thinks parents should not be too strict because it is good for their kids to be dedicated to their work. Finally, Mr. Benoit – English teacher answers: “To an extent, yes - for the first number of years, it is important that a parent is actively involved in the intellectual journey of their young student. But at a certain point - say, high school - that student must learn to internally motivate themselves.”