It’s Party Time, Kids

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One of my best friends was only recently diagnosed with ADHD. She is often labelled as “makulit”, very talkative and a little weird. Sometimes she’ll talk to you about something without looking you in the eye because she’s actually staring at nothing. She constantly needs to be on the move and she so easily loses track of time. I accept her for all of her quirks, but that’s not the point. She started formal schooling as early as the tender age of 3. Maybe if she started school even just a few years later, her life would be a little less hectic and she could patiently wait 5 minutes for our food to arrive.

Thirdly, starting pre-school following the DepEd order which is 4 or 5, keeps a child from developing the important skill of self-regulation. Self-regulation is very closely related to self-control but it encompasses more than one’s control over themselves. Self-regulation is a conscious effort to reach one’s goals while keeping one’e thoughts, behaviors, and feelings all-in-check to reach it. This trait is better achieved with the help of the two previously mentioned benefits of the one-year delay. Better concentration coupled with reduced levels of hyperactivity means better chances for a child to well develop their self-regulation.

These benefits that come with waiting a few years before putting your children in school persist until they are 11 years of age. Imagine what other traits and study habits they may be able to acquire and attain until then. Parents should understand that “stimulating a child’s mind at an early age” doesn’t mean putting their children in school as earl as 2 years old. I think there are a million ways a parent can stimulate their children’s mind without exposing them to a rigid instruction based environment.

The year delay in a child’s education, is not for the parent, in the long-run and in every aspect, it is for the child. Aside from the important trait of self-regulation, heightened levels of concentration and reduced diagnoses for ADHD, the year delay “lengthens one’s childhood”. A child has their whole life ahead of them, why rob their freedom to explore their childhood? We should be encouraging them to recycle those old “balikbayan” boxes to make rocket ships and sail boats. We should not shun them for not wanting to read the encyclopedia but wanting to read Dennis the Menace comics. We should be allowing them to be children while they still are.

Many sectors in the Philippine government are flawed. The education system is flawed in more aspects than one and this is problematic because on the receiving end is not just any member of the Filipino community, it is the children. But if done the right way and the right changes were made, the Philippine education system could produce more brilliant, self-reliant, and self-aware children. In the wise words of our national hero, who understands and celebrates the capability of the youth, “Nasa kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan”. Maybe the first step to making change in this country isn’t an action in drugs or an action in corruption in the government, I believe it is action in the education system.

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