Childhood is often regarded as sacrosanct as it is often associated with innocence. However, due to emerging societal dynamics the situation is changing.
Unfortunately, it is becoming to see many children being affected by many societal pressures.This essay will take an exhaustive look at the reasons for this situation while equally proffering solutions.
A key pressure that most children face emanates from academic expectations.Education being the main preoccupation of most children at this stage, the adults expect them to excel at this, not taking into consideration other factors.This mostly takes the form of parents comparing one child with another in terms of academic brilliance.Sadly, there is always simultaneous prodding from the school especially from teachers, through structured tests and assessments. It goes even further to the point of children being subjected to punitive measures if they do not measure up to a set standard.These pressures coming from both home and school fronts leave most children under intense trauma.
Another burden most children have to bear in a 21st Century society is that of peer pressure. More than any time in human history, advancements have percolated virtually every community to such an extent that children have become highly sensitive to the views and opinions of their friends to such an extent that they want to be in their good books. There are situations where children are so carried away by opulence displayed by their mates that they resort to stealing, just to meet up with such standard. The psychological impact could also be damaging, as many children alter their personality so as to please the ‘madding crowd’. The impact of pressure has always been there; only that now there is so much interconnectedness triggered by cutting-edge technologies .