Abstract
Kids need a lot of encouragement throughout their growth phase to have good behaviors. This encouragement leads them to secure good grades in academics and to also perform in the extra-curricular activities. This is vital for their success in their lives. Sometimes, punishments are necessary but very sever punishments are not the answer to problems. Instead, matters should be handled tactfully.
Introduction
Education is the first and foremost tool of survival. Education gives people a sense of how to live their lives. It teaches the difference between right and wrong. It teaches a person how to communicate with others and how to make a good impression. Education at every stage is important, especially in the early developing years. Education is the corner stone of all the dreams and ambitions. Without education, nothing is possible in this era. A person with education is considered an asset. A good education is an answer to many problems.
Relation Between Kids and Schools
It is a dream of every parent to send their kid to the best school. Every parent wants to see their kid at their best. They want to see put their kid in the best school money can buy. In hopes that their kid will grow up into a civilized and educated person and will benefit the society with their wits. Every parent wants to see their kid succeed in life. Some kids, however, are more attracted towards breaking the laws and creating troubles. They are not focused on studies. They tend to create disturbance and disobey rules. Schools are very reluctant to accept students who tend to show interest in breaking the rules and disobeying orders. They do not like the fact that a higher authority is asking them to follow the rules and regulation of a department. They make troubles within their class and cause problems.
The simplest solution that is provided to the parents of a troubled child is to change schools. Parents are left with no choice but to change the school of their child. Parents feel like if the environment of the child is changed, he will change the attitude. Parents believe that by changing schools, they are doing their child, a favor. But is it the only solution? Is it the right decision? What other options are there?
Changing The School – A Critical Analysis
Let’s start with the fact why the child is troubled. Some children become troubled due to problems that happen in their home environment. They get disturbed when their parents fight. They may get hurt by how feel ignored by their parents. Parents who fight a lot tend to ignore the needs of their kids. The children of the parents who ignore them find their solace in things outside the boundaries of their home. They become distant and quite
According to a research, it proposes that changing schools too often is one of the main causes of crime. The children of 12 to 14 go through some changes. Their likes change. Their perspectives change. They start to think that they are finally adults and question everything around them. (Ingraham, 2016) Switching homes or switching schools has proven to be disruptive to the mind of a child. This affects their present and their future. The child should not be torn away from their environment. They will not grow up to be healthy if they are bullied continuously. If they do not have friends to share stuff with. (Ingraham, 2016) Children younger than these are the ones that are forming attachments with things, people, and places. They decide who to get close to and who to get away from.
If they keep changing the surroundings, they never create that sort of perspective for themselves. The adolescents that are relocated again and again go through the stress of relocating again and again. They don’t find it easy to forget about their previous area, let that be an old school or an old neighborhood. They feel like an alien in the new area or school. They find this transition in their life highly torturing. It not only tortures their perspective but also tortures their mind. (Ingraham, 2016) Moving from one school to another, disrupts the routine of a family as well. The child gets affected the most as he has settled himself in the patterns of the school. Changing schools takes away the sense of stability from the life of the child. In will weaken the ties between the parents and the child. The child will automatically withdraw himself from the family members. He will not turn to them in the times of need. He will stop feeling protected. He will feel as if he were betrayed by his own family. They may lose sight of any goals that they had in their mind.
School Mobility’s Long Term Effects
According to a research in 2014, it is stated that mobility is seen to have all the negative impacts on the mind of a child. Mobility is the reason why some kids suffer from so many mental disorders. Mobility is not the answer. Changing the school of the kid and hoping they will adjust better is not the answer. (Park, 2014) After careful calculations, the results that were deducted were suggesting that children who changed schools more than 3 to 4 times in younger age had more symptoms of hallucinating and interrupting thoughts. These are all associated with mental illness that may occur in later years too. According to Dr. Swaran Singh, there is a strong connection between changing of schools and mental health issues in young and adults. Dr. Swaran Singh studied 14,000 children until they reached the age of 13.
Family of the children were called upon and were asked to answer some questions about the child. These were all the kids who had been moved to different schools many times. Being the outsider gives them a sense of under confidence. Repeatedly being the outsider can create ripples in mind and that can lead to having paranoia and many other psychotic symptoms. The experience of changing schools is wrenching. Some kids take this too seriously. They start hallucinating and having delusions. They stop trusting. They stop believing in themselves. They even stop trusting their talents. They stop respecting adults. (Park, 2014) As they hold them responsible for taking away something that belonged to them. They hold grudge against their parent or any other authority figure because they think they are the reason behind all the problems.
The parents think that the only option is to take the kid out of the school and shift them to another school. Studies show that if a child is forced to change more than one school in the 6-month period, the chances of becoming a delinquent in later years is rather high. The parents without realizing the damage they will be inflicting on their child, remove the child from one school and shift him to another one. Changing schools often can cause low self-esteem in the child. (Pinarski, 2014) Which is the most harmful thing to be developed in anyone, let alone a child? Low self-esteem, if developed at a young age, stays within the person until death. It is one of those things that cannot be changed. Low self-esteem is the root of all the problems that may arise in the later years. The child always feels like he is socially defeated. (Pinarski, 2014)
A sense of under confidence and ignorance leaves the child scarred for the rest of their life. This is something that they never recover from. They feel not understood. They feel small. They will always feel lesser than others. A child needs to feel attached to the institution. He needs to make friends who will tell him the good things about him. It is not easy to make new friends all the time. It takes the time to feel a level of attachment towards someone before you call them your friend.
There is a strong connection between changing of schools and mental health issues in young and adults. The family of the children were called upon and were asked to answer some questions about the child. These were all the kids who had been moved to different schools many times. After careful calculations, the results that were deducted were suggesting that children who changed schools more than 3 to 4 times in younger age had more symptoms of hallucinating and interrupting thoughts. (Pinarski, 2014)
A research in the year 2012, gives some solutions as to how one should help the young kids who have to move from one school to another. His research includes all the various ways that can help with the coping mechanism after changing a school. One of the main things a family should do after they change schools is to support that person enormously. (Osher, 2012) The kids who have to go through this transition period are not confident adults. Research shows that such children demonstrate more and more negative behavior. These are the kids who later out are named as drop outs. These are the kids who create trouble all their life. They never get settled down. They never really call a place home. They are always on the run.
It is because their childhood was like that. In the early years, when a child is developing the infatuation for a place, they were moved constantly. (Osher, 2012) Support will mean a lot to the child. He will feel at home. And maybe just maybe the process of transition will become a little easier for them with all the support from their family. The family should never fail to instill the passion of education in the child. They should stand by him at all times. A person who shows slight interest towards breaking the rules is supposed to feel loved twice more than an average child. Students should be allowed to remain with their friends and peers and teachers. They should be given a healthy and positive life, where they have all the chances to succeed in life. Where there is no negativity. They should be allowed to stay where they want. The comfort of the student is much more important. Education is the right of every man. No one can take this away from anyone. (Osher, 2012)
Studies show that the fact a kid has to change a school can cause many psychotic problems. The kid is always bullied because they are always the “new kid.” The kid who has no friends’ because his life is unstable. He will not make good friends because no will want to accept him into their group. What impact will this have on the mind of a young child? Who was ignored at home, and now he has to be ignored at school as well. All this because he changed schools. What trauma will he be having when he sees that all his previous friends are elsewhere and he is in a new environment, in a new school. (McCord etal, 2017). They start to see themselves as underprivileged.
A school is a place, where all kids find the hidden talents in them. But if a child is moved to different schools all the time, they cannot put their time and effort to explore themselves, but will rather stay scared of others. They cannot find the energy to begin the process from the beginning. After some time, they give up on finding their talent and isolate themselves.
Bullying is a big problem these days. No child is safe from it. After all the precautions parents and teacher take, students still get bullied all the time. Bullying leaves a child underdeveloped and under confident. Kids who already have low self-esteem become the target of casual bullying. They do not complain. (McCord etal, 2017). They do not fight back. But they just absorb it all in themselves. Bullying is considered a big factor in the development of mental issues. Kids who are forced to change schools are always bullied due to lack of confidence and friends. They get picked upon and insulted in public. Other students call them names and insult them. If a child is repeatedly failing and defeated in social situations, it will lead to the changes that begin in mind and the dopamine system of a person. Such kids then become more prone to stress. Friends play a strong role in the development of a child.
A child cannot grow up without a friend. A friend is a person who is with you at all times. Everyone needs someone by their side all the time. Someone who can tell us the difference between right and wrong. Someone who will appreciate us in our life. Parents cannot be with their child at all times. The child needs the appreciation from his peers to feel worthy. It is indeed true that a person needs to belong to one place. If the child is kept on the move, he will begin to think maybe there is something wrong with him. He will hold his self-responsible for all the bad things. This is not a good or positive thing. This thinking only leads a child to be destructive. (McCord etal, 2017). He will either become the victim or mental illness or self-hate. Studies also show that if a child is taken out of school due to disciplinary problems that child never recovers from the insult they felt and have a tendency towards suicide.
Effects of School Mobility in Later Years
Youth who is forced to change schools in the childhood turns out to be out to be future school dropouts. (Gasper, 2009) The teens who are the victim of changing the school in the early years are the unfortunate adults who are the high school dropouts. Such kids are bound to go towards negativity. Even when they grow up and move on, a part of them stays neglected. A part of them remains the same. (Gasper, 2009) When a child is forced to change their school, they establish negative approach in their life. And if they keep changing every school they go to, they will become a person who has a very negative approach to life.
When a student drops out of college, their future becomes dark instantly. They are guaranteed to stay jobless for the rest of their life. Even if they get jobs somehow, they do not earn a good handsome mount. A study shows that the students who have to go through the transition of schools are no different than the drop outs. (Gasper, 2009) the highs school dropouts do not get a job. There life is ruined. School is one of the most important places in the life of a child. It is the place where they go and explore themselves. It is where they feel good surrounded by their peers. It is the place where they feel confident. It is the place which they think is the first step towards their bright future.
A school is a place where they get away from all the troubles that happen in their family. (Sweeten, 2009) Most of the criminals are said to have childhood unresolved issues. Ignored kids go out and explore the world on their own. They indulge themselves in activities that are damaging to the little brain. In school, they become quite and do not socialize and make friends. They are distant all the time. They do small things to gain the attention of their peers and teachers. For example, a troubled would never sit quietly. He would make the disturbance. He would attract the attention of everyone by little deeds. These little antics are just a cry for attention. Little kids do not know how to put thoughts into words; they do such things to get attention. (Sweeten,2009)
A child is sensitive; constant scolding will only lead him to become more annoying and stubborn. It is never advisable to scold an already stubborn or irritated child, as it makes the child more irritated. The child will see fit to disturb the class. He will have found a way to gain the attention that he was getting at home. They will throw tantrums or cry just in hopes that they will get noticed. They will do anything to be noticed. No teacher wants a student who disturbs their class. No teacher would want her class to be disrupted because of one student. Every teacher wants peace. When the teacher finds it hard to handle the troubled kid they will complain. When they fail to discipline a student, they take up them complain to the higher level, and the final decision will be left with the parents to take. That is mostly that they will have to change the school in hopes that it will miraculously change their kid. Let’s look the aspect of changing schools from the perspective of a parent.
Parents get complains that their child is not studying proper. They hear that their child is not socializing and making friends. They hear that the kid is making unnecessary jokes in class. They hear all that. Without talking to the kid, they change his school. Now, let’s look at the same situation from the perspective of a child. The child has to come to school, after a long night of listening to his parent’s fight with each other. He wants attention. But the peers and teachers are not happy with his ways. He is ripped off from his environment. He has torn away from the place he was familiar with. He is forced to leave the place that was his solace. How would the child feel? The child will, naturally, feel torn. No matter what his behavior. He called that place his school. He made friends. He made contact. He was familiar with the area. He knew his way around. When this child is taken away, he feels distant. The child feels under confident and alone. (Pettit, 2000) Such kids from psychotic symptoms at a young age.
This phase is very stressful for kids, who need to adapt to all the new things and a whole new environment. Some kids go into taking drugs or alcohol. They turn into different people. The kind of people they never thought they would become. The kind of people their parents were trying hard; they will not become by changing their school. They stop caring for anyone else around them. They stop respecting. They stop loving. They stop feeling. They go into the passive aggressive mode. They find themselves all alone. They find themselves ignored and unloved. The need to break laws is a disorder. Such disorders are caused by a problem in mind. They occur when the child feels unloved and misunderstood. The best way to try and put a stop at this is by telling the child to be good and by standing with the child at all times so doesn’t feel alone and indulge in wrong doings. The success depends largely on engagement. To make the transitions as smooth for the child as possible, they should be understood. Not just their nature but their whole life and family. This will help them. The social workers should help such students. These students need the most help by everyone. (Pettit, 2000)
Conclusion
In the end, the conclusion will be that no, changing schools of a troubled child does not help. A child is like an empty paper. An adult can put in anything they want. A child is attached to little things. All these attachments have some impact in his life. To take away the things he loves is like torture to the little souls. No one is a born offender. The first step to be taken is to parents that they do not fight in front of their kids. Parents should provide a healthy and peaceful environment at home to their kids. Kids who grow up in the peaceful environment are less likely to indulge in any negativity. The school should consult with the psychiatrist as to how to handle situations. No kid should be punished so hard in front of their peers that it changes their personality. A softer hand should be shown too.
A child who seems to be troubled should be given counseling. Mobility is not the answer. It solves fewer issues than it creates. It has a terrible impact on the child. The child will grow up to be a troubled adult. Who will be lonely and depressed? Such people are very prone towards suicide attempts. They will always feel left out in social gatherings. Their social skills will be non-existent. For the society, they will be just troubled people.
There is a time in life when actions and thoughts can be modified. That time is childhood. The thoughts and perceptions that are formed in the childhood are what stay until adulthood. Adulthood is the time when these perceptions are only strengthened. So, the time the help should be given is in the youth. Kids should be encouraged towards good behaviors. They should also be encouraged to get good grades as then and only then they can succeed in life. Punishments, especially severe punishments are not the answer to any problem.
When a child leaves the school, he will automatically attach himself to other things. As long as the teachers and parents are careful what environment their child is growing up in, everyone can rest assured the youth will turn up to be successful adults. Every type of grooming begins at home. The environment of the home should be nice, so the child is raised up to be a confident man. Children should not have to go through the pain of losing their friends, their peers, and their teachers. Bad behaviors shouldn’t be encouraged, but they shouldn’t be rewarded with such harsh statements. A person needs friends to live a healthy life. A child without friends can never be happy. If a child has trouble in making friends, then he should be encouraged to make friends and socialize not change their area.
References
Ingraham, C. (2016, June). Moving as a child can change who you are as an adult. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/moving-as-a-child-can-change-who-you-are-as-an-adult/?utm_term=.59c5fd22adea
Park, A. (2014, February). Study: Switching Schools May Give Your Kids Psychotic Symptoms. Time. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from http://time.com/8854/study-switching-schools-may-make-your-kids-psychotic/
Pinarski, J. (2014, February). Study: Effects of moving on kids’ mental health. Today’s Parent. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://www.todaysparent.com/family/effects-of-moving-kids-mental-health/
Osher, D. (2012, March,). Successfully Transitioning Youth Who Are Delinquent between Institutions and Alternative and Community Schools. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from https://www.neglecteddelinquent.org/sites/default/files/docs/successfully_transitioning_youth.pdf
McCord, J., SpatzWidom, C., I. Bamba, M., & A. Crowell, N. (2017). Education and Delinquency. Retrieved 13 August 2017, from https://www.nap.edu/read/9972/chapter/1
Gasper, J. (2014, December) Switching Schools: Reconsidering the Relationship between School Mobility and High School Dropout. Retrieved August 10th, 2017 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4279956/
Sweeten, G. (2009, November). Does dropping out of school mean dropping into delinquency? Retrieved August 10, 2017, from http://www.albany.edu/bushway_research/publications/Sweeten_et_al_2009.pdf
Pettit, B. (2000, March), Moving and children’s social connections: the critical importance of context. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from http://crcw.princeton.edu/workingpapers/WP98-04-Pettit.pdf
Gasper, J. (2009), Coming and going: Explaining the effects of residential and school mobility on adolescent delinquency. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.173.7169&rep=rep1&type=pdf
