Xi'an (CNS) – During summer vacation on the Chinese mainland, many parents busy themselves with making sure they have a "perfect" schedule set for their children. This includes enrolling them in extracurricular lessons, delivering and picking the children up, or being concerned about their activities during the break.
These parents have been compared to patients with "summer vacation anxiety." The volume of this group of victims should not be underestimated, given that there are about 208 million elementary and middle school students in China, according to the 2007 China Youth Statistics by the China Youth Studies Center.
Zhang Yanmei, who works at a chain hotel in Xi'an, has been driving her fifth-grade child to an extracurricular school for math, English, and writing lessons, almost four times every day since the beginning of the summer.
So that her child will be able enroll in a well-known school later, she takes for granted all her efforts and her child's hard work.
Another parent with the same symptoms, Yan Ge had no choice but to put restrictions on his son. Last summer, Yan and his wife were busy managing their business, and they neglected the cares of their son. The boy spent almost every day playing Internet games at the net bar.
More than that, he even got into verbal fights with his parents, left the house, and dropped out of school.
Speaking of their naughty son, the father had no idea how to educate him, so he sent him back to the teachers.
Most parent interviewees expressed their high expectations for their children in a society filled with fierce competition.
On the one hand, the anxious parents do wish a pleasant holiday for their children. On the other hand, the worries about irregular study and life during the two to three month period add to their mental stress.
This psychological discomfort might lead to a negative result in most cases: exhausted parents and resistant children.
The summer vacation is supposed to be a temporary relief from study burdens for the children. The original idea is to encourage more contact with nature and society for comprehensive growth, according to Li Ying, lecturer at Shaanxi Normal University.
Li suggests that parents forget about practical benefits of educational courses during the holiday, and give the children an opportunity to reveal their instincts. The right attitude is to encourage with guidance.
