In some countries, children are often told that they can achieve
anything if they try hard enough. What are the advantage and
disadvantages of giving children this message?
In some cultures, children are educated to work hard to pursue
their goals and made to believe that, as long as they persist to
the end, these goals can be realized.
This form of education enables children to reach their potential.
Children become more active and motivated in their studies,
with greater possibilities to enter top universities and excel in
their future lives. Inevitably, children meet various hardships and
setbacks and it is human nature to think about giving up. At
these difficult times, the encouragement from the elder is
crucial. When children are given a message that any goal is
achievable, they would have the determination to overcome any
difficulty in life.
However, teaching children that they can achieve whatever they
want has detrimental effects on their growth. The disadvantages
include high-risk exposure to psychological problems such as
anxiety and depression, which may happen to children after
repeated failures. We have to admit that individuals differ in
terms of intelligence and capability, which means some
objectives are easy to reach for some children but difficult or
even impossible for other children. The unsuccessful experience
despite continuous effort contributes to self-esteem issues and
affect children's identity. By contrast, if these children are made
aware of their limitations in the very beginning, they can have a
greater sense of satisfaction with life, even though their success
is not comparable to their peers'.
Overall, I think children should be taught to set down-to-earth
goals and attain them step by step. It is not advisable to
encourage children to pursue unrealistic things regardless of
their individual differences.