Student News for Horizon Honors Secondary School

The Horizon Sun

Student News for Horizon Honors Secondary School

The Horizon Sun

Student News for Horizon Honors Secondary School

The Horizon Sun

Delicious, home made gallo pinto.
Gallo Pinto Recipe
Amanda Mourelo, Editor of Student Opinion and Features and Extras • November 28, 2023

Gallo pinto is a rice dish that elevates any meal but is especially great to eat for breakfast. The dish...

Sweet potato casserole made by this recipe.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Canon Grant, Columnist • November 22, 2023

Sweet potato casserole isn’t just any old casserole; it’s full of cheer and joy. Sweet potato casserole...

Delicious bruschetta paired with homemade spaghetti.
Bruschetta Recipe
Addyson Gauer, Editor of Campus Life and Sports • November 22, 2023

Appetizers are a great way to elevate any meal, and one that stands out among the rest is bruschetta....

The finished cornbread in a bag.
Sweet Pumpkin Cornbread Recipe
Jameson Kowalski, Columnist • November 22, 2023

  Cornbread is a classic Thanksgiving dish that has been a part of many family traditions for...

Brent Faiyazs new album, Larger Than Life
Brent’s Success is Larger Than Life
Maya Zappa, Columnist • November 20, 2023

Brent Faiyaz is one of the top Rhythm and Blues (R&B) artists in the game. All over the media, he...

Content creator creating the Uncanny Valley look.
The Mystery Behind the Uncanny Valley Trend
Erin McGinty, Columnist • November 20, 2023

The Uncanny Valley trend is a popular make-up trend circling the internet. The trend depicts makeup artists...

Tourists sitting next to an Iceland volcano that has already erupted.
Iceland’s Impending Eruption
Jameson Kowalski, Columnist • November 20, 2023

The island nation of Iceland is home to a variety of different natural wonders, including its mountains,...

Weather Data Source: 30 tage Phoenix wetter

Pushy Parenting

Adaptation of photograph by Molly Skyar, available under a Creative Commons
Attribution license. Copyright © 2011 Molly Skyar.
Adaptation of photograph by Molly Skyar, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Copyright © 2011 Molly Skyar.

Motivating kids is part of effective parenting, but when does it become too much? They have boundaries and abilities, and the constant pushing and nagging most parents use on their children can reduce motivation, increase arguments and anger, and lead to low-self esteem and cheating.

When parents are always on their children’s backs, urging them to wake up at certain times or forcing them to endure endless hours of studying, it causes them to lose that spark of interest they once had. Even if they initially wanted to be a pro-athlete or the top student, they lose the self- motivation and drive they need to push themselves further. When children have their own idea of what they want and how to get there, they will take accountability for practicing or studying themselves. Having that internal drive can truly take an individual farther than someone who is constantly pushed. Plus, what happens once they are off to college? They’ve finally been accepted into an Ivy League University, and they’re off to live on their own, but they start slipping in their grades and ignoring them. Why? Because they didn’t develop an independent drive. They’ve become so used to their parents urging them to study, get the best grades, and be at the top that they don’t motivate themselves.

Children are not the same in their academic abilities, and it’s the duty of the parents to realize this. The parent knows them best and should praise them when they achieve a great score on a test or quiz in a subject where they struggle, even if that grade isn’t an “A.” A better grade than normal shows that they are at least trying to better their studies in that subject, and that itself is worth praising. Instead of pushing children to be better and better and achieve straight “A’s,” it’s much more effective and beneficial for their self-esteem if the parent congratulates them, showing them that hard work pays off. The parent should then encourage them by making them realize they are improving and are close to climbing to that “A.”

Also, if the parent is constantly rooting for them to earn straight A’s, they won’t want to disappoint their parents. Many children love the feeling of praise from their parents and will do anything to get the most desired “A” to avoid any consequences that come along with bad grades. The desire to please their parents and not disappoint them leads to the child making the choice to cheat or copy work from others. “I don’t think there’s any question that students have become more competitive, under more pressure, and, as a result, tend to excuse more from themselves and other students,” comments Donald L. McCabe, a professor at the Rutgers University Business School who is a leading researcher on cheating. “There have always been struggling students who cheat to survive,” McCabe added, “But more and more, there are students at the top who cheat to thrive.” They know it’s a bad decision but they will do it anyways because of the pressure to receive straight “A’s.”

Parents need to know their children’s’ academic strengths and weaknesses and understand that they may not always earn those perfect grades. If they are struggling in a subject and earn a better grade than they normally do in that class, they should be happy and praise them for the progress they are making, rather than asking why they didn’t earn an A instead. This can lead to low-self esteem and cause them to be more likely to cheat due to the pressure. Also, pushing too much by making a schedule for them each day and forcing them to read chapters of a text book can leave them burned-out with no self-motivation.

 

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