Thrivers

Thrivers explores the perspective of a child born in today’s fast-paced, digital era and how the average minor is being educated towards higher-than-usual achievements, being mature, responsible and successful, instead of being happy and focused on their own definition of success.

Growing up, schools have taught children that test scores measure one’s cognitive capabilities. They also taught them that exams are definitory for their future success. Grades, school merits, and academic success are universal metrics for analyzing pupils and students.

However, this leaves very little time for hobbies, going out with friends, or just being a kid in between. Instead, many of us pressure children into taking part in a highly competitive environment. Environments where they must strive for perfection in all areas of life.

On top of that, the social media influence leaves no room for reality, and it forces teenagers and children to grow up quicker than expected to fit into an adult world. As a result, the new generation is more stressed, anxious, and depressed than ever.

A study conducted on children revealed that we raise them as products rather than humans and that they don’t know how to be empathic, form meaningful relationships or handle mistakes and stress. In other words, they lack basic life skills, and most importantly, they don’t have a character of their own.

The solution is simple: Teaching the new generation emotional literacy and building on their emotional intelligence so that they know how to handle it when they face a challenge in their life. Moreover, we should eliminate the pressure of high academic credentials, as it builds frustration in those who struggle in school.

We all have different sets of skills and talents that help us navigate through life. Essentially, that is what helps humanity survive and evolve. Unfortunately, however, it seems that the current educational system fails to adapt to one’s unique characteristics. Therefore, it fails to raise capable people that can hold their own in society. An American psychologist, Martin Seligman, suggests that the key to happiness is self-confidence. To build it, one has to focus on their unique strengths. As a parent, this should be a priority in the process of educating children. Building the identity of a child based on their native skills and talents will increase self-confidence. A person who receives assurance that they are good at what they are doing will be more motivated to keep on building their career and life around their skills. This, in fact, is the recipe for happiness. Sadly, today’s educational system relies too much on memory skills, which is something that not all children possess equally. Then, it measures success based on academic credentials instead of balancing a series…